This Is What It's All About
by Sinister Attraction
Summary: EC - All the way. Horatio is shot, Kyle is missing, someone dies. What's going on? Possible spoilers for Season 7?
1. It Only Just Started Ch1

Chapter: 1

This is what it's all about:

During Going Ballistic: Season Final of Season 6;

Location: Miami Dade: Crime Lab.

Time: 27 minutes after Eric Delko and Horatio Caine arrest Ortega.

Calleigh sighed walking down the hall to her newly burnt down lab, she was hoping to recover some of her files from the case this morning. Not everything had been chard in the fire, if it wasn't for Eric she would have never found the bullet and they would have never been able to really solve the case. She kicked her foot along some of the rubble searching for anything that could have been saved. She jumped at the mere sound of someone clearing their throat, she looked to see a happy smiling Eric standing with his arms crossed leaning against the door frame.

"What are you doing in here Cal?" he asked her walking in stepping over a few things. She smiled at him and looked around then back to meet his gaze, "Just seeing if there was anything that the fire didn't touch. Did you catch Ortega?" she asked him tilting her head to the side. Eric nodded proudly to her; "Yeah, H and I found him in his warehouse." he told her smiling.

"Good. At least that's all solved." She said looking around her once nice and clean lab. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair and matched her gaze with Eric's again. "What?" she asked him noticing he was staring hard at her, yet his eyes were so dark and alluring Calleigh tried her hardest to not stair so hard. But that was difficult for her, Eric always made her nervous, but it was a good nervous. Sometimes she wanted to murder the butterflies in her stomach because it affected her so much she sometimes found it hard to even speak around him.

Eric let a small smile paint across his face as he chuckled, he looked down at his watch for a second then moved his eyes to look back into hers. "Cal, it's getting late. Shift is changing. Why don't we look through all this tomorrow? It's been a long day." He said to her trying to muster up the courage to ask her out before they both left for the day.

She sighed once more and stepped over some of the ceiling that had fallen to the floor. Eric held his hand out and took her by the arm to steady her as stepped closer to him. She smiled looking up at him, "Your right. Never thought I'd say this, but I'm ready to get out of here." She laughed lightly hearing him chuckle. Eric still had his ever warming hand on her upper arm. He just looked down at her. Calleigh's skin was on fire from his touch; her heart was racing so fast she could hear it in her ears.

She shifted her gaze to his large hand that was wrapped around her tiny upper arm, "Uh, I – Sorry." Eric said slowly and unwillingly letting go of her arm. His cheeks flushed a light red as well as her own. He moved his hand out motioning to the door for her to go ahead of him. It was one of those 'ladies first' moves. She smiled and stepped out into the hall with him as they both walked silently to the locker rooms.


	2. Talk About Your Sexual Tension Ch2

During Going Ballistic: Season Final of Season 6;

Chapter: 2

Talk about your sexual tension:

They both went their separate ways for a moment; their lockers were on opposite sides of one another's so they were still in talking range. "So – Uh, Cal?" Eric said zipping up his bag. "Y –You doing anything after we leave here?" Eric said with almost hesitation in his voice. Calleigh smiled to herself and bit her lower lip resting her hands on a notebook on the inside of her locker. "No, why?" she shouted back with her thick southern accent. Calleigh's heart raced faster as she swallowed hard at the anticipation of his answer.

"Because I was wondering if you – you maybe wanted to get some dinner." Eric whispered from behind her as Calleigh literally almost jumped from her skin feeling him brush his body against hers. Her breathing shortened for a moment but she didn't turn around, the smile never left her lips, it only got wider. "Yeah?" she whispered back closing her locker door slowly turning to face him as one of his hand extended out and his right palm pressed against her locker door by the side of her head. "I'd like that." Calleigh said softly letting her back press into lockers. He was so close to her, close enough for her to lean up and kiss him.

His lips looked delicious; everything about Eric Delko was yummy. Spite him being her best friend, Calleigh still had trouble telling him how she felt. They always danced around the subject and it wasn't that Eric didn't try, it was just Calleigh was scared for that subject to arise. In the seven years they had worked together, not only had they both developed a great work relationship and care for one another, but love.

Love.

They both knew the truth, but neither ever really pressed the issue. Eric found it difficult to be around her sometimes every since her abduction. Not that it was a bad thing, but when he was with her now, he always wanted to be one step ahead. So if something were to happen, he could protect her. Calleigh saw that and appreciated it, even though she could take care of herself, the fact that wanted to be her knight and shinning armor made her heart melt.

They both realized they were standing so close to one another, so unwillingly Eric pulled back and smiled trying to snap himself out of his Calleigh daze. "So it's a date then." He said hesitantly. She let her cheeks flush a little as she nodded, "I guess so." Her sweet southern accent sounded.

They both made their way out to the parking lot walking side by side speaking of where to meet for dinner until they hit her car. Eric was parked a few rows down, "So I'll meet you there then?" Eric asked her with his charm opening her car door for her. "I'll be there." She smiled and slid in starting up her vehicle. Eric jogged his way to his SUV and started it up pulling out noticing Calleigh was right in front of him.

Not even fifteen minutes later they were at their location. A restaurant that was on the corner of the beach front, a very romantic bistro. If Eric had planned his timing better he would have did the whole 'real' date thing. Brought her flowers and picked her up from her condo and actually would have dressed nicer than his work clothes. But for now, this would do. He loved spending time with her, the woman he had grown to fall in love with. Calleigh turned off the engine and looked out her side driver window seeing Eric parked next to her and was already at her door opening it for her. She smiled and stepped out looking at the place. "Wow, I've never noticed this place before?" she gently stated as she walked side by side with him to the side of the open restaurant looking out at the beach. The sun was setting beautifully in the sky, "Well that's because most of our murders happen on the other end." Eric stated with a chuckle, implying that they only got to see one side of the beach because of their jobs, even though that wasn't entirely true.

Calleigh laughed and shook her head, "You wanna walk around before we head in?" Eric asked her hoping she'd say yes. All she had to do was smile and get that dazzling gleam in her eye that reflected off his gorgeous face to tell him her answer. They both removed their shoes carrying them as they walked side by side in the sand. The beach was actually quite and there weren't many people around which was nice. The wind blew lightly letting some of her long blond hair blow around her face. They didn't say anything for awhile until Calleigh broke the silents.

"Beautiful isn't it?" she whispered stopping to face the water looking out to see the sun slowly going down. "Beautiful is an understatement." Eric said not even looking at the water but at Calleigh. She blinked a few times and shifted her body to face him, there was a red tint to her cheeks from blush, but he couldn't tell either way by the way the setting sun was reflecting off her beautiful features. Calleigh smiled up at Eric, "Your sweet, Eric." She truthfully stated looking down for a moment at the small gap between them.

Without lifting her head her eyes followed to the side of her face seeing Eric's hand rise and touch her cheek as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear. He moved his pointer and middle finger down her jaw line to her chin lifting her face up as he lowered himself a little to her height. She let her emerald eyes waver between his for a few moments before she could feel his hot breath brush along her lips he was so close, "Cal –" Eric started to say before going in for the one thing both wanted more than anything.

Calleigh's body was frozen. She didn't move an inch, she wanted this too, and right now was the perfect time, the perfect place. Kind of like out of a fairytale… well sort of. But her moment of waiting bliss came to a halt when Eric's phone started to ring. Eric pulled his face back some with a grunt of uneasy frustration. Calleigh's cheeks were still flushed as she let out a light giggle. She licked her lips watching him fumble with his phone looking at the caller ID seeing it was Ryan, "Delko," he answered never moving his eyes from hers.

She watched his face for a moment seeing the fear and anger rise in it, she mouthed, 'what's up?' to him. He put his hand on her upper arm and squeezed it lightly, "When? –Alright we're on our way!" Eric said flipping his phone shut. Eric stood there for a moment, his mind in chaos, "Eric? What's wrong?" Calleigh said in panic. "We have to go." He said to her putting his hand on her lower back guiding her back up to his SUV. "It's H – He's been shot."


	3. We Cant Loose One Of Us Ch3

During Going Ballistic: Season Final of Season 6;

Chapter: 3

We can't lose one of us:

Without a second thought they left the restaurant, leaving Calleigh's car in the parking lot. Calleigh was usually a strong woman, but when someone she cared about was hurt it made all those emotions well up inside. Eric being shot last year was the perfect example. It brought back a lot of those feelings for her. Maybe not to the same extent, because she didn't love Horatio in the way she loved Eric, but she cared about H. He was like the father figure to the group; at least she saw it that way. Once they arrived at the hospital Eric and Calleigh rushed through the sliding glass doors seeing Natalia and Ryan standing there. "What happened?" Delko asked. Calleigh looked around as though she was looking for help.

But what could she do? She knew nothing about what happened. "We don't know yet. He's still in surgery." Natalia said with her arms hugging herself. Everyone wore the same look of worry on their face, except Ryan. He pulled his cell phone out and handed it to Eric. Eric looked up at him confused, "What's that supposed to mean?" Eric asked nodding to the phone to hand it back to Ryan. Ryan sighed and leaned back against the wall, "I don't know? I was walking out of the lab and my phone beeped. Not minutes later I got the call that H had been shot." Ryan said calmly. Calleigh furrowed her brow and looked at him reaching out to take his phone to look at the message.

"Did you see who it was from?" she asked softly. Ryan just shook his head. Calleigh handed him his phone back and looked up at Eric. "You might want to try and trace that Ryan, it could –" Calleigh was cut off by one of the nurses. "Are you all here with Mr. Caine?" she asked as they all nodded. Calleigh placed one of her hands on Eric's upper arm squeezing it lightly; he looked down at her and smiled faintly. "Is he alright? Can we see him?" Natalia asked. "There is some internal bleeding. Thankfully we retrieved the bullet. He's stabilized now, but the next few hours… days are critical." She said to them.

"I need the bullet." Calleigh blurted out as the nurse nodded to her that she understood. "Can we see him?" Eric asked. "Yes, he's in ICU, room – room 227." She said to them. They all rushed down the hall to room 227. They all quietly entered the room seeing a once tough vibrant Horatio on a hospital bed fighting for his life. Calleigh closed her eyes letting a few of her tears cut off as she walked up to his bed and squeezed his hand. The only sound that could be made was the sound of the monitors going off in the background, it was annoying, but at least it was a good sign he was still breathing and ok.

They all surrounded the bed, it was like someone died. The room was so quite, too quite for Calleigh. This all brought her back to the day Eric was shot… Speed's death. "Excuse me." She said quietly walking past Ryan and Eric. She walked out into the hall trying to calm herself. She kept telling herself to not cry, not show emotion. But she was only human and it was hard not to express those feelings. Eric looked back at Horatio and then saw that Natalia was on her way after Calleigh, Eric put his hand out, "I got it." He said to her as she nodded to him watching him disappear through the door. Eric walked out into the hall looking around for the petite blond. "Cal?" he said seeing her stand a few feet from the door her back against the wall.

He approached her and saw that she was crying. He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned his body down some to meet her eyes because she was looking down. Without hesitation Calleigh wrapped her arms around Eric's waist and rested her head against his chest. It caught Eric off guard a little, but he was pleased anyhow. Eric let one hand rake softly through her hair as the other held her close by his hand pressing into her lower back. She was a silent crier, thank goodness. After what seemed like forever, which was only about ten minutes she pulled away seeing Frank and Alexx walk down the hall. Alexx had left the lab a few weeks ago, even though she lived in the area, it still felt like they lost a family member. Because that's what the gang was a family. Alexx embraced Calleigh tightly as Eric made small talk with Tripp.

Alexx smiled at Calleigh and then hugged Eric tightly as well. "How you doing, baby?" Alexx asked looking at both of them. Eric and Calleigh looked at one another and just smiled. Alexx smiled back and winked at Calleigh. Alexx was always good at spotting things, especially if it had something to do with the two of them. Only there wasn't anything going on… not officially anyhow. Although the beach moment between them could have made it all look different. Eric and Calleigh stood in the hall for a little longer after Tripp and Alexx made their way into the room. They both knew that too many people in the room at once would only cause commotion with the nurses and doctors.

Natalia and Ryan came out of the room a few minutes later and they all just stood there not saying anything for a few moments. "What do we do from here?" Natalia asked breaking the long silents. They all looked at Calleigh as she let her eyes waver between all of them. After all she was Horatio's second in command. "I –I don't know? The first thing in the morning I'll get the bullet in my lab and see what I come up with. Ryan you should probably find out where that text came from on your phone. Someone should go out to –where was he found?" Calleigh asked. "Outside the Miami Shores air strip." Ryan said. "Well someone needs to go there, look for anything that could help us find out who did this. Talk to people who were there – you know the drill." Calleigh's thick southern accent sounded. Eric looked down at her and smiled letting his hand freely run along her back as a sign of not only affection but comfort.

Tripp and Alexx came out not moment after Calleigh's instructions. "I'll go take a look around the runway in the morning. See if there is anything there; give us a clue as to who did this." Tripp said. Natalia nodded to him to let him know that she was on board for that in the morning.

After awhile they all said their goodnights and visited with Horatio once more before they all headed out. Calleigh was exhausted, it was almost eleven and she had to be up in a few hours to start work the next morning. So did Eric. As they walked out to his SUV Calleigh tried to stiffen her yawn, but failed. Eric smiled at her in awe; she looked adorable to him when she was tired and not as weary about everything around her. "You want me to just drive you home Cal? I mean it's a bit late for you to drive home." He said to her pulling out of the hospital parking lot. "I'm o – o –ok to drive." She said stiffening another yawn. Eric chuckled and rolled his eyes as he drove in the direction of his place.


	4. What Would I Do? Ch4

During Going Ballistic: Season Final of Season 6;

Chapter: 4

What would I do?:

Calleigh didn't mean to but she ended up falling asleep on the car ride back to Eric's place. She fell into a light slumber, but one nonetheless that gave her a dream. One of what happened … well what could have potentially happened between her and Eric at the beach. It was nice to dream up her own image of what could have happened. She sighed in her sleep but then felt herself being lifted. She realized Eric had lifted her from the car and was carrying her. Her head rested on his shoulder as her body bounced with his movements. His cologne wafted into her nose causing her body to shutter from pleasure. She heard the door open and felt the light through her eye lids as she buried her face deeper into his neck.

Eric smiled feeling her do that, feeling the soft touch of her lips touch his skin. She was really light in his arms, like a feather. This was the first time he ever really held her like this, he should have known from her petite figure she would be light. Eric didn't turn his bedroom light on; he just pulled the covers back and laid Calleigh down on his bed covering her up. She finally let her eyes open and realized she wasn't in her own bed. "Eric!" she whispered as he looked back at her. "Shh, sleep Cal. I'll wake you up in the morning and drop you off at your car so you can get ready at your place for work." He whispered back to her with a smile seeing her open her mouth to protest. Eric quickly put his fingers over her lips, "Sleep, I said." He whispered sweetly to her moving his fingers to her cheek and caressed it for a moment before heading out.

Calleigh smiled and sighed moving her fingers over her cheek where he had touched it. His touched lingered there all night, well until she fell asleep. She was surrounded in Eric. Not just because she was in his bed, but because his smell was on the pillow and sheets. It was so sweet and enveloping. It caused her to dream about him again. Only this time it was unpleasant, he was dead. It all fell after his shooting a year ago. Calleigh knew in the back of her mind it was a dream and it was all stirring up because of what happened to Horatio.

She was trying to wake herself up, and after a few fights against the sheets she finally sat up in a cold sweat calling out Eric's name. She panted to catch her breath and looked around lazily her vision clouded by tears and saw the clock flashing 3:30 a.m. She grunted and stumbled her way out of Eric's bed and opened the door walking down the hall. She found him sleeping on his couch with only the light from the muted TV and the moon shining through the window to light the room. She flipped the TV off and stepped closer to him, she knew it was just a dream yet still she couldn't help but check on him. Calleigh sighed and ran her fingers through her hair walking to the wall sized window looking out to see the moon full and beautiful.

Eric stirred a little from his light sleep and blinked a few times seeing a familiar perfect silhouette of a body across the room. He knew it was Calleigh as he slowly and quietly got off the couch walking up behind her putting both his hands on her upper arms. She jumped lightly and turned her head to see it was him. She sighed in relief and swallowed hard. "Eric," she whispered letting her heart rate pump faster. He titled his head and saw that there were puddles in her eyes from unshed tears. "Cal, what's wrong?" he asked her softly moving his hand up to brush a few strands of hair from her face as she turned to face him. She shook her head some, "J –J –Just a dream… a bad dream." She confessed.

He looked at her with a light smile moving his hand back to her cheek caressing it softly as she closed her eyes cuddling her cheek into his touch. "I –," she started then stopped herself as she opened her eyes letting a few tears roll down her cheeks. Eric quickly wiped them away, "What is it?" he asked her softly. Calleigh moved her hands up and rested them on his chest without hesitation. "I thought you were gone." She whispered in her southern accent as he looked at her confused. "My dream – I dreamt, I dreamt you were dead. S –Seeing Horatio like that today made me think of you, when you were shot. I just couldn't –," Calleigh let the tears stream down her face. She was opening up a little to him at that moment; it was something she needed to do.

Eric's hand never strayed form her cheek, she shook his head wiping more of her tears away, "But I'm not Cal, I'm right here. It was just a dream." He assured her. "I know that. Just the thought of losing you, Eric, it scares me." She finally confessed to him. Eric smiled at her and leaned down to kiss the top of her hair. "Your not going to lose me Calleigh, even with a bullet in my head I'm still Delko Strong." He chuckled as she did too. It was a new height in their relationship. Calleigh was finally opening up a little about her feelings for him, and that was what he had been waiting for, for so long. She wasn't pushing him away, if anything it was like she was trying to keep him closer. And Eric didn't mind that one bit, but he wasn't going to push her too much either.

After a few moments of standing there Calleigh yawned again as Eric chuckled, "You should get back into bed. It's late." He said to her almost in a fatherly tone. She smiled and walked down the hall with him to his bedroom as she slipped under the sheets. "Eric?" she called out to him softly seeing him ready to walk out of the room. All she had to do was say his name and he knew what she wanted. Without a word he walked over and started to remove his shirt but stopped himself. Sure it was his bed and his place, but he wanted to be respectful, not only that he and Calleigh hadn't completely jumped the intimate hurdle yet, whether it was just kissing or holding her. Eric crawled onto the bed over the sheets bringing her close to his chest. Calleigh sighed contently as Eric pressed a soft kiss to her temple as she laid her head against his chest feeling the rapid beating of his heart. It brought and ever growing smile to her lips as well as his own. Eric figured once she fell asleep he would slip out of the room and go back to the couch. He didn't want to press his luck. Calleigh was his best friend… more importantly he loved her, and although the past two days he had come close to expressing more of his feelings for her he still didn't want to press his luck. She was just now finally starting to slowly open up to him; Eric didn't want to ruin that. But he couldn't help his tired eyes.

Neither of them really knew what this all meant yet, but it was something… Something that was long over due.


	5. Only A Matter Of Time Ch5

During Going Ballistic: Season Final of Season 6;

Chapter: 5

Only a matter of time:

Eric let his eyes roll around under their lids for a few minutes before fully opening them. He glanced over at the clock and realized that he didn't have to get up for another hour. He was about to shift his body to his side before he realized that he had his petite blonde friend latched onto his body. How could he forget Calleigh was there? Probably because this was a first, her staying the night with him. Nothing physical happened, it was everything that innocent was made up of, just two friends comforting one another. But Eric could take it the other way too because Calleigh opened up a little to him. But he wasn't going to press his luck, not now anyhow.

He slowly moved his body from under hers watching to make sure he didn't wake her up. He was going to let her sleep for as long as possible until he had to wake her up to leave. He watched her for a few minutes seeing how beautiful and peaceful she looked, it made him smile. Eric quietly grabbed his things for the shower and put them in the bathroom before making his way to the kitchen to put some coffee on.

Not even a twenty minutes later he came out in his boxers with the towel hanging around his neck, drops of water swelling down every curve and inch of his chiseled tan body and wash board abs. He walked into the kitchen and looked up to see Calleigh standing there with a mug of coffee in her hand. Her mouth was slightly open as she looked Eric up and down. His cheeks flushed a red color before he laughed lightly embarrassed. "Uh – I was going to wake you after I was out of the shower." He said quickly looking down before taking the towel from around his neck and holding it in front of him. He was still blushing; Calleigh was too but hid it better. "I should – Uh –," Eric pointed behind him and walked quickly away down the hall to his bedroom. Calleigh leaned to her left to watch him. She leaned back and sipped on her coffee with a grin on her face.

/X/X/

"Sorry about that back there. I'm not used to having anyone else in the house with me." Eric said to her still slightly embarrassed as he drove her back to her car at the restaurant. Calleigh just smiled at him seeing him park next to her car, "Nothing to be sorry for, Eric." She smiled at him reassuringly. "It's not every day I get to wake up to something like that. Really made my morning." She said teasingly to him, only really inside she wasn't teasing him. It felt good and yet sort of wrong too in a way that she saw him like that. But she wasn't going to say that. She didn't want to embarrass him anymore than he apparently was. "Coffee was good too, by the way." She said smirking getting out of his SUV. He chuckled and shook his head, "I'll see you at the lab, Cal." She grinned and nodded to him as she headed to her car.

/X/X/

When Calleigh walked into the Crime Lab it was so quite, the news spread fast throughout the building about what happened to Horatio. She was coming into the lab a little late this morning because she had to go back at get the bullet from the hospital. She had forgotten to get it last night while they were there. Not only that she wanted to check up on Horatio, he was slightly awake when she was there, she got a smile out of him and that was nice to see. It still hurt though to see her friend like that.

"Calleigh!" she heard her name being called as she turned to see Ryan running up to her from down the hall. She walked a little ways to meet him; she saw the look on his face and frowned. "What's up?" she asked him. Ryan scratched the back of his head and then crossed his arms over his chest, "Well… I can't trace back where the text came from on my phone. There is no signal to it or anything, at least not around here." He said to her with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Ok. We'll put that on hold for now. Did Frank and Natalia go back to the scene?" Ryan nodded his head, "Yeah they should be there now. I was thinking about going out there too. Give them some help?" he said to her. She nodded and smiled to him letting him know that she too, thought that was a good idea.

As she started to walk past him Ryan called out to her again as she turned around once more, "Hey, Cal – Is –Is someone going to call Kyle? Let him know what happened to H?" he asked her. Calleigh froze for a moment forgetting all about him and Julia. "Y –Yeah I'll – I'll call him." she said with a smile heading back down the hall to her lab. She wanted to get a little more of the story and evidence before she called Kyle to let him know what happened. Calleigh wasn't quite sure how she was going to break it to him anyhow.

The bullet that was found in Horatio's chest appeared to be one of the bullets they confiscated from Ortega's warehouse yesterday. Calleigh studied it hard looking at the damage that was done to it, she would send it to Eric's lab for finger printing but she wasn't sure if it would do any good now the bullet was ruined. She sighed and pulled out her phone and dialed Natalia's number. "Natalia, It's Calleigh –," she said softly picking up the bullet again looking at it. "Calleigh, I was just about to call you. We found a few bullet casings here. Got a few prints too." Natalia told her. "Great! Bring me the casings when you get back, hopefully it matches to the bullet that was found in Horatio." The southern bell said as she flipped her phone shut.

Calleigh sat the bullet back down on the table and put her phone back in her pocket as she turned around quickly bumping into someone, she felt them quickly grab her wrists to stop her from running into them any further. She looked up and sighed seeing it was Eric, he smiled down at her slowly releasing his soft grip from her wrists. "In a hurry?" he said to her with a slight chuckle. She rolled her eyes some and ran her fingers up through her hair, "I was actually coming to see you." She said with a grin. The image of him this morning played in her mind again, damn Eric for being so good looking! She smiled at her thought and snapped out of it quickly seeing the expression on his face. "They found some prints at the scene and some bullet casings. But Eric I want you to take a look at this –," Calleigh said turning around to grab the bullet again as she handed it to him.

He looked at it carefully then back at her, "It's the same bullets H and I found at the warehouse." He said confused. She took it back from him and carefully put it back on the table. "I know." She whispered softly letting her eyes match his again. "Hopefully the prints they found will lead us somewhere?" she said to him once more. He shifted his jaw slightly side to side for a moment before nodding. He leaned a little against the table beside her and smiled at her. "I saw H this morning, he – he looked a little better I guess?" Calleigh said to him breaking the momentary silents that fell between them.

"Yeah, I'm going to go after work to see how he's doing." Eric said to her kind of with a sad tone. Eric didn't want to think about losing another one of his friends again. Calleigh just smiled up at him hearing the tone in his voice. "Eric – I – I wanted to thank you for last night. I'm not usually like that, and you know that. It all just kind of hit me at once you know?" she said to him softly seeing his face soften with her words. He hoped that she wasn't sorry for expressing how she felt to him though. "That's what I'm here for Cal, you know that." He said moving his hand to squeeze her own gently.

She squeezed it back lovingly letting her thumb lightly run up and down along his hand. "It's true though. If something happened to you again, Eric I don't know what I would do." Calleigh said letting her voice carry in a soft sweet tone. Maybe this wasn't the best place to discus this with him, but since she brought the subject up again, why not? Eric smiled down at her with a light laugh shaking his head, "I know the feeling -," he said to her remembering the day she was abducted. A day that he wanted to wash from his memory completely, if he lost Calleigh he would defiantly go a-wall. "I'd feel like I was – I was losing apart of myself." Eric finally admitted to her. Calleigh's eyes widened as she looked at him in shock. Maybe not so much shock, because she knew that he had feelings for her, but for him to say that was just mind blowing.

Eric felt nervous now that she was going to slap him and walk away, or just walk away. He'd prefer that anyhow, a big red mark on the side of his face with a small hand print would be hard to explain to people when they asked what was wrong with his face. Eric let go of her hand in fear that maybe he said something wrong because she didn't say anything. But once he saw that gorgeous smile paint across her face he knew that he had said something right.

Eric started to raise his hand to caress her cheek, "Eric –," she started to say before they both heard someone knock against the door. Eric pulled his hand back quickly and ran it through his stubbly hair. "Am I interrupting something?" Natalia asked with a grin. Calleigh's cheeks flushed a bright red as she shook her head, "Got my bullet casings?" Calleigh asked to change the subject quickly. Eric took a small step back from Calleigh as she took the casings from Natalia. "I already have the prints running; hopefully it gives us some good news?" Natalia said smiling at the both of them still. "I'll –I'll call you when we get a hit on them." She said once more before backing out of the room with the same grin.

Eric cleared his throat and looked down at Calleigh who smiled looking down at the table knowing he was looking at her. "Need my help on these?" he said with a soft grin. She shook her head, "No. Actually I don't even need to check these. One of these casings are defiantly from the bullet that hit Horatio." She said holding one of the shells up in front of her. They both examined it for a few moments before she set it down on the table and turned to face him again. "So now all we need is the shooter." she said to him removing her gloves and tossing them into the waist basket.

After a few glances and smiles they both mentally decided to go see Natalia and if she got anything on CODIS. It was better that they didn't say anything and it was probably good that Natalia interrupted them. If anything they both wanted to express how they really felt, but not at work. Dancing around the subject here and innocent flirting was nice… for now. Natalia shot a smile up to them as they walked into the lab, "Got anything yet?" Calleigh asked her as she shook her head. "No – Not yet, I figure once we –Oh boy." She cut herself off in mid sentence looking down at her computer screen.

"What is it?" Eric asked her as she looked up at the two of them flipping the screen around. Calleigh's eyes widened as well as Eric's. They both said at the same time, "Ron Saris."


	6. We Won't Be Fooled Again Ch6

During Going Ballistic: Season Final of Season 6;

Chapter: 6

We won't be fooled again:

"I need to speak to Horatio! This is an emergency!" the tall slender woman announced to the receptionist in the Crime Lab. Calleigh and Eric were walking down the hall making small talk about how they were going to bring Saris in when they heard a woman speaking hysterically to the woman at the desk. They both approached her and realized it was Julia when she turned around. "Julia." Eric called out as she turned around quickly, her face blotchy and red from crying. "Where's Horatio!" she asked them quickly. Calleigh motioned for her to step aside with them. "Julia, Horatio's been shot." Calleigh said to her with no sympathy in her voice for the woman that was standing in front of her. Julia's face fell as her eyes widened. "What? Oh God – Ron." Julia said lightly. Calleigh's eyes shot up to Eric as they both looked at her confused.

"K –Kyle's missing." She blurted out to them both. The pieces of the puzzle were slowly fitting together. Of course out of order, but they were good at solving these things. "I –I –I think Ron took him. I left only for a minute, I – Kyle and I were supposed to meet Horatio at the airport at five yesterday. He – He said –," Julia stopped what she was saying trying to resister what was all happening. Calleigh held her hand out in a motion for her to calm herself. "Ok listen to me, Julia; do you have any idea where Ron would have taken him?" Calleigh asked her calmly. Julia shook her head, "I don't know? Uh, when I mentioned Horatio and – and Rio, Ron -," Julia started to say but was soon cut off by Eric; "Rio?" was all he could say.

He and Calleigh both looked at one another knowing exactly what was going on. "Alright listen to me Julia; we're going to get Kyle back. We need you to corporate with us, Ron is a dangerous man." Calleigh said to him. Julia rolled her eyes some remembering what Horatio said to her yesterday about him. "I know that better than anybody –Just –please, get Kyle back." Julia pleaded with the two CSIs'. Calleigh and Eric both nodded their heads to her, "Horatio – h –how is he?" Julia asked them before either of them could walk off.

"He's in critical condition right now," was all Eric said before walking past her with Calleigh. They both walked down into one of the labs before Eric closed one of the glass doors behind him. He leaned back against the door with his arms crossed over his chest looking at Calleigh as she tried to gather her thoughts. "What do we do now?" Calleigh asked him running her fingers through her hair. "There's only one thing we can do… We go to Rio to get Kyle back and to bring Saris back with us." Eric replied to her. She nodded contently and bit her bottom lip. This all was a lot to take in and was happening fast. Then again this was their jobs so she was used to it.

"Alright." She said nodding, "You know usually I'd say lets call Horatio and see what he thinks but – I – I never thought we'd be in this position where we had to do this." She said to him softly hoping that what she said made sense. Sure all the CSIs' have had their problems, whether it was getting shot or abducted or whatever the case was, but this was Horatio. He was the Lt. and now it was all turned around. But they all knew they could do this, none of them had a doubt in their minds. Eric smiled down at Calleigh sweetly and brought his hand up to her upper arm squeezing it softly. "We'll get him Cal; don't worry about anything, ok?" Eric said to her softly.

She nodded to him and ran her fingers through her hair once more, "So what do we do? Do we just go there and hope that we find them?" Calleigh asked him with a light chuckle. She couldn't believe she just asked a stupid question like that. Eric laughed lightly shaking his head, that grin on his face almost made her melt. "Something like that." Eric said to her. "I know … stupid question." Calleigh said rolling her eyes annoyed with herself. "I'll make some calls and get everything we need to go. We're gonna catch him this time." Eric said to her with a reassuring smile on his gorgeous face.

/X/X/

It was getting late as Calleigh packed up a few of her things to go to Rio. She wished it was a vacation she was packing for, but this was something she had to do. Ryan and Natalia had every bit of information they needed for this case while her and Eric were gone. Still Calleigh pressed the issue about what was sent to Ryan's phone. There had to be a reason behind all of it, Calleigh just didn't know what?

She wasn't sure how long they would be in Rio for, but Eric and Horatio went there last time and were there a matter of two days and took care of business. Calleigh could only hope it didn't take an unnecessary amount of time. Sure in the back of her mind she thought it was great that it was just her and Eric going to help save the day, and she hoped that it wasn't selfish of her to think that way. To want to go to be with Eric. But she knew the real reason why she was going, that was to get the man who tried to kill Horatio and kidnapped his son. That was more than enough reason for Calleigh to go, to make Saris pay for all the damage he had done.

Calleigh pulled her suitcase down the hall when she heard a knock at the door. "Cal? It's Eric." He said from the other side. She opened it quickly with a smile on her face. "Hey –I'm not running behind am I?" she asked slightly panicked. "No –No not at all. I'm a little early, thought we'd swing by the hospital to see H before we headed out." Eric said to her as she nodded to him. A part of her dreaded telling Horatio what was going on, it would only make him worry and that was something he didn't need now.

After Eric placed her suitcase in the back seat of his SUV with his they made their way to the hospital. Seeing Horatio lying in the bed perfectly still like he was made Calleigh worry that he wasn't going to get any better. But when he turned his head slightly and his turquoise eyes lit up seeing his two friends walk in, Calleigh knew that he was going to be ok. Eric did most of the talking letting Horatio know what was going on. Of course he made sure to choose his words wisely because he of all people knew that when you were in the position that H was, the stress only made things worse.

/X/X/

"_You two be safe… and bring them back."_ Horatio's words played in both their minds as they sat on the plane side by side. Eric and Calleigh both could see on his face while he laid there that it was hard for him not to just jump up and help them out. Go to Rio to get Saris and to more importantly get his son back.

Calleigh felt someone slightly shake her and whisper her name out. Her eyes shot open as she looked lazily in front of her. Her head was leaned against something warm and strong. Eric's shoulder. Calleigh sat up slowly, "Oh, are we here?" she asked rubbing her eyes some to let her vision get focused better before looking at him. He smiled and moved his hand to smooth her hair out some for her, "Yeah we're here." He said to her as they got out of the plane and got their suitcases. They took a cab to the hotel that Eric had set them up at. It had only just now dawned on Calleigh the he may have forgotten that she was coming along and maybe only got one room for them. Her stomach started to tie in knots, good knots but also those butterfly ones.

"I forgot to tell you –" Eric said as the cab drove off leaving a little trail of dust behind as the two of them stood outside of the hotel, "Around here your not Calleigh Duquesne, your Monica De La Paz." Eric said to her looking at the confused look on Calleigh's face. He laughed kind heartedly, "Ok and why do I have a name change?" she asked curiously, "Because Cal, we cant risk someone here knowing who we really are. It could scare Saris off or he could hurt Kyle –," Eric said to her firmly. Calleigh understood that completely, "So what do I call you?" her southern accents sounded more high pitched then before. "Call me Angel De La Paz." He said with a grin on his face. Calleigh flushed some, "Since we look nothing alike, I don't suppose we are brother and sister then?" she joked with him leaning down to pick up her bag. "Hmm, more like newlyweds." Eric said to her almost hesitantly with a blush of his cheeks.

Calleigh grinned and started to walk ahead of him not saying anything. She stopped inside the door way as Eric walked ahead and spoke to the hotel manager about their room. Their room. So they were sharing a room? Calleigh started too slightly panic. Sure Eric held her a few nights ago but that was because she was venerable and just needed that comfort. They were here for work purposes. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked around the hotel lobby. She watched as the people walked by and stared at her. It only occurred to her now that she was the only Caucasian woman with blonde hair in the place. She really stood out.

She felt someone snake their arm around her tiny waist and pull her close. She was going to yell and say something until she realized it was only Eric and she knew the reasoning behind it. "You ready, baby?" he said with a grin. Calleigh bit her bottom lip and blushed nodding to him. She knew they were just acting for these people around them, but still she knew somewhere deep inside Eric as well as herself were going to get a much more deeper thrill out of all of this. It would have deeper meaning just neither of them would admit it right now.

Being this close to Eric now made her heart race again. Calleigh just had to keep reminding herself why they were here. They had to get Kyle back to Julia and Horatio and get Ron Saris back to Miami to convict him properly. Eric opened the door to their room, it was huge, the bed could probably fit all the CSIs' in it at once. Calleigh put her suitcase on the bed next to Eric's. He walked over the window and opened the curtains some and looked back at her then at the couch. "Don't worry Cal, I'll sleep on the couch." He said to her nodding over to the couch. Calleigh smiled and didn't say anything to him as she opened her suitcase.

She pulled some shorts and a white tank top out and headed to the bathroom. She quickly changed into them and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look like a business woman or a CSI right now and that was the look she was going for. She smiled to herself in satisfaction and walked back out of the room. Eric stood there with a grin on his face. "So Mrs. De La Paz, are you ready to go sight seeing?" Eric said to her not moving his eyes away from her beautiful face. She looked at him confused for a minute and opened her mouth, "Er – I mean yes of course, honey." She said realizing that there was a maid in the room putting fresh towels on the bed. The maid stood there for a moment admiring the two of them not even really knowing that they were just friends. Eric gave her a tip and closed the door. "You know this is going to be harder than I thought." She said to him chuckling a little. Eric just smiled at her, "You'll get used to it." He said to her with another grin.

Eric could really see himself with Calleigh like this, married to her. Having a wonderful life with the woman he had fallen in love with. He wondered even though this was a work related thing if it was making her uncomfortable to play this part with him, or if she too, in fact felt the same way he did? He would never know unless she told him, but he knew Calleigh, spite her opening up to him a little in the past week she was still one of those people who didn't express much of her feelings.

/X/X/

After they successfully hid their guns they made their way out of the hotel and walked around the area. Eric knew Rio better than Calleigh did, so she was leaving that up to him to direct the way to finding Kyle and Ron. Hopefully get a lead as to where Ron could have been. "Wanna get some food? I'm hungry." Eric said to her with a sweet smile. "Lead the way Mr. De La Paz." She said in a mocking tone with a light laugh. He laughed too as they made there was to a little side restaurant. Calleigh made sure to look around the place just to be cautious.

She jumped at the sound of her phone going off, "You ok there, Cal?" Eric said with a grin. She bit her lip and flipped her phone open, "Duquesne," she answered. "Calleigh, its Natalia – hey we think we may have found where Kyle is being held." Natalia said on the other end. Calleigh's eyes perked right up to Eric, "Where? I –I mean how did you find that?" she asked almost in a loud tone realizing people were looking at them. Eric nodded for her to get up with him as they walked along side the building. "Julia got a call from Kyle. She held him on the phone long enough for us to track it." She said shuffling around the things on her desk in front of her to get the name of the place.

"Oh that's great!" Calleigh said as Eric looked at her confused, she moved the phone from her mouth while Natalia was getting the name of the place, "They think they know the location of Kyle. Julia got a call –," Calleigh said to him with a smile moving her mouth back to the phone. "Tijuca, it's a jungle and not many people go there. Cal it could be dangerous." Natalia said to her. "Thanks, Talia," Calleigh said to her flipping her phone shut looking up at Eric.

"Tijuca? They tracked it from there, you familiar with it?" Calleigh asked him. Eric's nose flared a little and nodded. He gripped Calleigh's upper arm gently, "Come on." He whispered to her as they walked towards the Rio Police Station.

/X/X/

"Ah, yes, Mr. Delko – what do I owe the pleasure?" Chief Braga said watching Eric and Calleigh walk into the building. "I see you brought?" he was motioning to Calleigh, "This is my wif – my partner Calleigh Duquesne." Eric said catching himself before he said wife. Calleigh caught onto that and slightly blushed as well as Eric. "Pleasure to meet such a beautiful -," Braga started to say before Eric cut him off. "Ron Saris," was all Eric said. Chief Braga took his focus off of Calleigh and cocked his brow looking up at Eric. "Yes what about him?" Braga asked. "Oh so you know who I'm talking about?" Eric said with disgust. He still resented the guy for letting Riaz go spite the fact he killed Marisol. Calleigh watched the expressions on both men's faces while the spoke, was there going to be trouble?

"Yes of course, Mr. Saris has been – how do I say? Very generous to us here." Braga said with a grin on his face. "Well he shot Lt. Caine and kidnapped his son." Eric said. When Braga didn't change his facial expression Eric continued, "Saris is keeping him up in Tijuca. We need to get up there." Eric demanded as Braga chuckled shaking his head. "I'm sorry there is nothing I can do." Braga said sitting down in his chair with his hands up in front of him in almost a praying motion. Calleigh grunted a little, she had kept quite the whole time letting the two men speak now it was her turn. "Alright listen to me, there is a boy that has been kidnapped and was brought here to your country – by a man that you say you know?" her thick southern accent was loud and furious. Eric just stood there and let her talk; hopefully she could get through to him.

"Yes I know him quite well." Braga finally said. "Then you know how dangerous he is." She said with anger her voice at the same tone maybe just a hair louder. Braga looked around the station seeing everyone focus their eyes on them. He stood from his chair and leaned over the desk to look Calleigh in the eyes, "I can have my men take you two there tomorrow. But they will not go in to help, you do what you must do and get out. Not only out of Tijuca, but out of Rio. Understand?" Braga said looking Calleigh dead in the eyes and then pulling back to look up at Eric to let them know that he meant business.


	7. I've Got You Ch7

During Going Ballistic: Season Final of Season 6;

Chapter: 7

I've got you:

Calleigh had tossed and turned all night in the bed, she couldn't sleep. She was a little nervous about what was going to go down in Tijuca. In the middle of the night she watched and saw how uncomfortable Eric was on the couch so after a few minutes of arguing with him about it she finally convinced him to move into the bed while she took the couch. She couldn't sleep anyhow so what was the point of her taking the bed? Finally though Calleigh did sleep, not for long but she did get a few hours in. Eric felt guilty once he did wake up to find her arm slung over the arm of the couch with her head rested against it. Eric didn't want to wake her but the sooner they got to Tijuca to get Kyle and Ron the sooner they were out of Rio.

Eric kneeled down in front of her and placed his hand on her knee to shake her a little. "Cal?" he whispered then moved his hand up a little to her thigh, not in an inappropriate manor but enough to get her to open her eyes. She blinked a few times to get her focus in as she saw the most gorgeous man face to face with her, his dark brown eyes happy and alert and his lips curled in a smile. "We have to leave soon." He whispered once more to her seeing her eyes shift to focus where his hand was. Eric smirked innocently and slowly removed it, Calleigh smile and slowly started to lift her head.

She made a grunting noise and winced in pain. She had a kink in her neck from the way she was laying. She moved her hand to the back of her neck and rubbed it a little, "I feel bad now." Eric said sitting next to her moving her hand away as he placed his there without caution and rubbed her neck for her, "What? Why?" Calleigh asked him. "Because your neck is hurting from sleeping on this couch like you were," he simply stated as she chuckled. "It's fine, really," she whispered moving her hair out of the way feeling him run his fingers in a gentle motion on her neck then to her shoulders.

Calleigh let out a few moans of pleasure from the soft caress of his hands on her upper shoulders and neck. Eric had to restrain himself from reacting to her moans. He was a guy, a guy who was in love with her and well by her moaning innocently like that it was hard for him to restrain himself. Calleigh had her eyes closed; it was like the rest of the world around them had faded. It was only her and Eric right now, nothing else. Calleigh felt her heart race so rapidly at that moment and knew that it would be short lived because they had a job to do. That had to come first.

She felt herself slowly falling back into Eric's embrace, he had to stop this, sure he wanted to her feel better, but he knew if it lasted another minute he would have gone over the mental bridge completely and made a move on her. He lightly let his fingers graze down her smooth skin on her upper arms. He brought his lips so close to her ear from behind, Calleigh let her eyes flutter open feeling his hot breath brush along her ear. "We should get going," he whispered delicately taking in her soft sent. Not wanting to part from her but drawl her in closer. It took all of her energy to pull away but she finally did and rushed to the bathroom to gather herself and let what just happened register in her mind.

/X/X/

It was silent between the two of them as they rode in the back of the jeep towards, Tijuca. It wasn't a bad silents either, it was a good one. Almost like when you find someone you like in high school and after your first date the next day you don't know what to say to that person because you are completely fallen for them. They exchanged smooth and loving glances to one another until they felt the jeep stop. It was all business now, just as it had been the whole them they were there. Braga stepped out of the jeep as Eric jumped off the back and put his hand out to help Calleigh out. "My men will wait here to bring you back. After this is over, I don't expect to see you either of you around here." Braga stated firmly to the both of them.

All they did was nod as they made their way into Tijuca. The trees were so high that if you looked up along enough it was like the world was spinning. It was completely beautiful, but hot. Calleigh looked around keeping close to Eric's side. She could already see his white wife beater he had on stick to his skin from the sweat on his body, every curve of his chiseled upper body showed through it. She shuddered and kept moving along. Eric could see her out of the corner of his eye looking at him. It was flattering because he, too, was looking at her as well. The way her tank top stuck to her chest from the perspiration that had over taken her body was just simply beautiful to Eric. But then again, everything about Calleigh Duquesne was beautiful in Eric's eyes.

After they had walked a few miles north of the Tijuca forest Eric put his hand out to stop Calleigh from walking. She looked up at him confused then saw what he was looking at. There was a little shack that was in the middle of a cluster of the trees. That had to be where Kyle was? Eric pulled her aside with him behind a plethora of dead bushes, "I don't see anyone around the outside –," Eric started to say. He looked around then back at Calleigh; the sweat was dripping on the side of her forehead much like it was to his. The heat was sort of getting to him, making Eric a little uneasy, but he did his best to keep that hidden from her.

"_You actually think I would let you and your mother go away like that?"_ Calleigh and Eric heard off in the distance. They faced the shack again and heard a few muffled sounds. They both reached for their guns and looked around before making their way over to the shack. They both peaked through the windows to see Ron with a cut across his cheek standing behind Kyle as he was taped up against the chair he was in. Eric nodded to Calleigh before he moved to the door kicking it open. Ron started to run off out the back door after he pushed the chair Kyle was taped up in to the ground. Calleigh kept her gun firmly in her hands as she raced after him. "Calleigh!" Eric yelled out after her as he cut Kyle free.

"How did you -," Kyle started to ask, "Don't worry about that now, does he have a gun?" Delko asked the slightly disoriented Kyle. "Yeah." Kyle said. "Stay here -," Eric said rushing out the back door trying to follow the steps of Calleigh and Ron had taken.

"You don't want to do this Ron. Put the gun down," Calleigh pleaded with him as he stood a few feet away from her. He mirrored what she was doing to him, her arms extended fully with the gun pointing directly at him. She could hear Eric off in the background somewhere yelling out for her. She swallowed hard keeping her eyes on Ron's, "You think I'm really that stupid?" Ron asked her, not really meaning it to be a question. "Well you shot Horatio, you tell me?" Calleigh retorted. It was a dumb move on his part to shoot him; Calleigh thought he was smarter than that to leave finger prints behind. As many times Horatio had tried to charge Ron with something you would think the guy would learn to cover his tracks.

"See that -," he motioned his hand out further pointing the gun at her more stepping a little closer. Calleigh had her pointer finger on the trigger just in case, "That wasn't my fault. If Red would have kept to himself and minded his own business none of this would have happened. He was trying to convince Julia that I was going to kill her and that bastard son of theirs." Ron spat. Eric ran up a few feet behind Calleigh, "Put the gun down Ron. It's over!" Eric shouted out to him. Calleigh blinked for what seemed like only a second before she felt herself being pulled towards Ron. She went to punch her arm back to hit him in the face but he grabbed it moving his arm around her neck holding her back against his chest. The gun to her head.

"Now I want you to drop your gun -," Ron said to her as Calleigh looked Eric dead in the eyes as he slowed edged himself closer to them. Ron waved his hand out with the gun in it, "Don't even think about it, stop right there, amigo." Ron called out to Delko. "It's ok Cal, put your gun down." Eric said to her softly. Calleigh was trembling as she tossed the gun a few feet in front of her. Eric kicked it a little in the grass with his gun still pointing out at Ron his eyes wavering between Calleigh's and Saris'.

Calleigh would normal handle something like this well, but a gun was being held to her head and Eric was standing before her. She wouldn't dare do something to get him hurt or shot again. Calleigh let out a soft whimper feeling Ron's grip around her neck tighten, her eyes burned from unshed tears as she closed them tightly feeling the tip of the barrel press to her head. Eric started to panic a little; he couldn't let anything happen to her. "Ron you don't want to do this. Let CSI Duquesne go." Eric tried to plead with him. Calleigh let her eyes flutter open to look at Eric.

"Why? You guys already have for life in prison for killing Red, what's one more?" Ron said to them with a smug grin. Calleigh mustered up a little courage and whispered out, "Horatio's not dead," she said quickly feeling Ron's grip get tighter. "What?" he said looking at Eric. "She's right Ron." Eric said to him edging closer to them both. Calleigh was waiting for her moment to break free from him, but she didn't want to make any sudden movements because all his finger had to do was slip on the trigger and she was done for.

Ron took a step back with Calleigh still in his arms. He looked behind him seeing that they were close to one of the Tijuca mountain edges. Eric realized what he was trying to do, he had to think fast but wasn't sure what to do. Once Calleigh realized where Eric's eyes were looking she shifted her gaze to the left and saw the opening. Ron's hand was lowered as Calleigh moved her right arm back elbowing Ron right in the gut, as hard as she could feeling him let go of her a little Calleigh went to break for it. Eric started to run forward after her, but before he could reach her Ron grabbed her by her long blonde hair and yanked her back causing her to fall back onto her face. She cried out in pain, not just from him pulling her hair but from the rock she took to the forehead.

"Stop right there." Ron shouted at Eric pointing the gun at him again. Eric was mere inches away from Calleigh. She grunted touching her bloody forehead, "Get up!" Ron yelled to her as he bent down and gripped her under the arm Calleigh moved her hands to his feet and pushed him back. Only that wasn't the best thing to do because he took her with him. Eric ran forward and got down on the ground to grab Calleigh. But Ron was hanging onto her as his body flew off the edge. "Calleigh I got you!" Eric said to her trying to remain calm. She couldn't speak, she was frozen hanging halfway off a cliff for her life. The tears started to pour down her cheeks, Calleigh never cried. Calleigh had to do something or she was going to be taken down with him, so she tried to wiggle her body so that Ron would lose grasp only Calleigh felt herself falling more. "Eric! Eric, please! P –P –Please don't let me fall." Calleigh pleaded with him, tears swelling down her cheeks. Her eyes read nothing but fear.

It seemed weird to be thinking like this at that moment, but there were so many things Eric never got to tell her. How he truly felt about her… How he was in love with her. If he only knew that, those were the same thoughts running through Calleigh's mind at that moment. So many things she never got to say to him. "Listen to me, Cal, I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you." Eric said to her firmly pulling her up as best as he could. At that moment Calleigh felt lighter, her body didn't feel as heavy.

He was gone.

Ron had finally broke lose from her body. Not so much as a scream shrilled from his mouth. With that extra weight off of her, Eric managed to pull her up completely with a little help from her. Without hesitation he pulled her into his body. Eric's heart raced wildly, his mind was in chaos. He almost lost her. Again. She wept in his arms as he tightened them around her, "Shh, baby, I got you now. It's alright Cal." Eric whispered to her rocking her gently against his chest. He could feel her warm blood seep through his shirt as her head buried into his chest.

Not only was Calleigh trembling but so was Eric. It was like what he told her a few days back in lab, if he lost her; it was like he was losing apart of himself. Eric didn't know if he would be able to go on without her.

It was most defiantly time to go back to Miami.

Chapter: 8 is COMING SOON!! I hope you all like it so far?


	8. Everything I Need Ch8

Chapter: 8

Chapter: 8

Everything I need:

It was like she couldn't breathe. Everything around her went completely black except for who was in front of her. Eric. Everything and anything that ever mattered to Calleigh was right in front of her, reaching out for her to take his hand. To save her, to keep her close. Calleigh could see her hand reach out for him as well only she was being pulled back; someone held her back from the one thing she wanted more than anything. _'This cant be it. I didn't tell him how much I love him, how much he means to me.' _Calleigh thought to herself before she felt herself begin to fall back. She saw him; Eric was running towards her still reaching out for her to take his hand.

The tears rolled down her cheeks as she called out his name. When she was falling she felt someone gripping her upper arms shaking her, "Calleigh – Calleigh -," she tried to fight them off. She knew it was Ron; he had his grasp on her, holding her back. She saw him again and called out his name, "Eric!" and just before she could hit the ground her eyes shot open to see his face. Calleigh's eyes were filled with tears but through the cloudiness of her vision she could see the worry on Eric's face. He was kneeled in front of her as she sat on the couch; she was in the break room of the lab. He brought his hand up and put it on her cheek and caressed it gently whipping away her tears. Calleigh's breathing was fast just as her heart rate was. She didn't dare tear her eyes away from his, she was afraid to look around… thinking maybe she was still stuck inside of her dream.

"I knew it. It's too soon for you to come back Cal." Eric whispered to her as he watched her eyes close while she brought her hand up over top of his for him to keep it on her cheek. It had only been two days since they had been back to work and Eric was aware of her bad dreams. He knew Calleigh and knew that she wasn't sleeping, fear of having the same nightmare about what happened back in Rio. She suffered from a concussion and the knot on her head was pretty big. Not as big as it was two days ago but she still had it patched up. "Come on, the shift is almost over. Let me take you home, Cal." Eric whispered to her seeing her open her eyes.

All Calleigh did was nod her head, she didn't say a word. Usually she would just say 'oh I'm fine, really,' but the truth was, she wasn't. Calleigh was far from being fine. She was still reeling from everything that had went down a few days ago, she over heard Ryan telling Natalia that it was almost like Calleigh was catatonic. She didn't interrupt their conversation, she just let it go because she knew that she was keeping away from everyone and not saying anything. The only person she let near her was Eric. Even after her abduction she wasn't this bad, sure it hurt and she had nightmares about it, but this… this thing with Ron scared her literally. Maybe it was because this time she was so close to death, literally _on the edge_ of it and there was Eric standing there trying to help her. After their talks and the things they had been through together, that was the hardest thing to swallow was knowing that in a heartbeat she could have been gone to leave him alone without a clue as to how she felt about him.

That thought hurt more than anything. A string of guilt ran through her every time she thought about it.

She jumped slightly at the feel of something suddenly warm and soft against her upper arm. She looked to her right and saw that Eric already had the car door open. They were at her place already. When did they leave the lab? She didn't even remember the car ride back; she was so lost in her thoughts. She hoped that he wasn't trying to speak to her on the car ride back because she doesn't remember responding to anything he said; she didn't want him to think she was ignoring him. But she knew Eric, he would understand either way.

Eric knew better than to ask if she was alright. He wasn't blind and already knew the answer to that. He just helped her out of the car and kept his hand on her lower back to guide her up the walkway to her condo. He already had her keys in hand as he unlocked her door and walked in behind her. He closed the door behind him and locked it up walking with her into the living room. He wasn't going to ask if it was alright to stay with her for awhile, he already knew that it was. She sat down on the couch and just looked ahead. Eric sighed hating to see her like this. He moved to sit next to her; he didn't want to touch her if she didn't want to be touched. He was just sat there for a good while with her in silents. She eventually leaned back against the couch and looked at him, her eyes red from a few tears that had fallen.

He brought his hand up to brush some of her hair that soaked against her cheek from her tears, "Cal – why don't you go into the bathroom and take a bath to relax. I'll – I'll order some take out and it will be ready once you get out," Eric said softly to her getting off the couch with her walking slowly behind her to the bathroom. He felt silly for following her like this, but it was almost like he was afraid something would happen to her again if he wasn't around. She turned to face him once she hit the bathroom door, "I'll be waiting out here," he pointed down the hall. He watched her face for a moment and swears he saw a smile. It wasn't her famous bright as the sun Calleigh smile, but it was something that was minor close enough.

Eric walked back down the hall after she closed the door leaving it cracked open. He called into her favorite Chinese place and ordered some food for the both of them. Eric sat on her couch waiting for her to get out; he put a movie into her DVD player and left it on the menu screen. He just wanted her to relax as much as possible, it was getting late anyhow. Eric's nose flared as the sweet smell of Calleigh wafted into his nose. It was clean, the smell of sunshine and flowers. Even though sunshine didn't have a smell when he thought about it though it reminded him of her, bright and beautiful. He looked up to see her standing a few feet away from him. She was in a pair of white pajama shorts and a white tank top to go with it. Her hair was slightly wet and hung around her face perfect.

She walked over to him as he stood up, that light smile was still on her lips. God she smelt good and once she got a little closer Eric realized she didn't have any make up on. She was even more beautiful without any. He caught himself in a daze and once Calleigh realized he was just staring at her, she remembered that look all to well. He was in awe. At that moment Eric got a full smile from her, it was innocent like she was blushing from being shy. He smiled too; it was great to see her smile like that again. She walked over to the couch and sat down; Eric was going to join her until there was a knock at the door.

He walked over to the window and saw that it was their food he had ordered. He tipped the boy at the door and walked back into the living room setting the bag down onto her coffee table. Calleigh brought her feet up underneath her and watched as Eric took some of the food out of the bag and leaned back against the couch. She smiled seeing that he got everything she liked; it was amazing how observing Eric was when it came to her… even with the littlest of things. He handed her some of the food while taking some for himself as well as pressing play on the movie.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she ate. She ate like a bird. After picking at the food for awhile Calleigh leaned forward and put the carton on the table and leaned back against the couch. Eric had already quickly ate his food as he shifted his body a little letting his back lean against the arm of the chair so he could look at Calleigh. She was crying. Eric muted the TV and moved his hand out and touched her cold skin. "Calleigh? T –Talk to me."

She sighed and sniffed up a few of her tears before shifting her body and completely leaning into him. Without hesitation Eric brought his strong arms around her tiny frame pulling her up into his lap as he rested his chin on the top of her head. He felt her tears soak through his shirt; he could feel her heart racing against his chest. He moved his fingers through her hair softly soothing her. "D –Does it ever go away Eric?" Calleigh whispered out faintly. It was the most she had spoken in the past few days.

He already knew what she was talking about, the pain and the memories of something tragic like that. "Honestly, it'll always be in the back of your mind, Cal. There will be moments when you're happy and the memory will creep up on you, but that doesn't mean you have to let it get to you," Eric whispered back to her. He knew better than anyone about memories that wouldn't go away. The day he was shot still plagued him every day of his life. "It takes time. But I want you know that no matter what happens your not alone. I'm not going anywhere; I'll always be here for you."

It was the truth, Eric would never leave her side, he was going to be with her through anything and everything. He loved her too much to stay away. He wanted to tell her that, but didn't want to ruin the moment. It was silent again before Calleigh lifted her head a little to rest it on his shoulder. The light brush of her lips along his neck sent shivers down his body. "I –I'm glad you're here Eric. I – I -," Calleigh sighed before whispering out again, "I need you."

There it was. The other three words he was looking for. She needed him. It brought an ever growing smile to his face at that very moment. It was all she had to say, Calleigh didn't need to say a big speech to him about how she felt, not now anyhow, those three words said it all for him. Maybe it wasn't 'I love you' but that was ok, he was settling for what he could get in her fragile state. But he also wasn't going to take advantage of her either while she was like this, that wasn't Eric's style. He respected Calleigh more than anything and he was glad that she was opening up to him like she was.

After awhile Eric just held her tighter against his body until she fell asleep, he too was in a light slumber. He finally awoke seeing the TV flicker from the movie that had been over almost an hour ago. He didn't want to move but he didn't want Calleigh to be stiff in the morning either. He held onto her closely and picked her up carrying her into her bedroom. He laid her down gently against the blankets and covered her up. He quietly walked out of the room to clean up in the living room, he would check on her before he left for the night.

Eric put the extra food in the fridge and straightened her couch out and shut the TV off. He walked back down the hall into Calleigh's bedroom silently opening the door to find her in the same position he had left her not minutes ago. He sat on the edge of her bed to watch her for a little while. He thought he was in heaven for a minute; she was just like an angel. He knew she was tired so he wasn't about to do anything to wake her up, but he did lean in and lightly kiss her forehead, "Ya tebyA lyublyU," he whispered before leaving the room and her house for the night.

/X/X/

Calleigh let her eyes roll under their lids before her eyes shot open with the sound of her alarm clock. She groaned and reached over to slap it off. She rolled over onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. She was actually relaxed and it felt like some of the weight of things she had to express to a certain someone was lifted. When she told Eric she needed him last night it wasn't a lie. It was merely the truth. Calleigh needed Eric and she was happy that he wasn't pressuring her into saying anymore until she was ready. Truth was Calleigh was ready to tell him how she really felt, but with everything going on and with her being in the mental state she was in, it just wasn't the best time for her to say all that to him.

After she got out of bed and took a shower she realized she was running behind. She didn't even have time to make coffee and sometimes the coffee at the lab was terrible. But she was just going to have to settle for it today. She walked back into her bedroom and slipped her stilettos on and made her bed quickly. She tried to remember what Eric whispered to her last night, it was something in Russian. She made a mental note to ask him later. She grabbed her bag and ran down the hall while grabbing her keys and flung the door open and jumped back to see the most gorgeous man ever standing there with his hand up to knock and the other holding a tray with two coffee's.

"Eric!" Calleigh squealed with a gentle smile hearing him chuckle. "What are you -?" she motioned at the coffee in his hand.

"Thought we'd ride to work together and thought you'd like some Café Cubano?" he laughed lightly handing her one of the coffees. Calleigh just smiled at him at his sweet jesters walking out her door locking it behind her. "You look – you look much better today," Eric said to her with a grin walking out with her to the SUV. That made her feel good to know that she didn't look like some mental case today. She could tell Eric how good he looked but she was sure the look on her face said it all and he had caught onto it.

Hopefully today would be better for Calleigh. Of course seeing Eric first thing in the morning was the start of her good day, it was only going to get better from here.

Chapter: 9 … COMING SOON!! Hope this Chapter was ok?

Also thank you to; TexasJen & Adorelo! You two are AWSOME! Thank you for being so kind to me with your reviews, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the others to come!


	9. One Of Those Nights Ch9

Chapter: 9

One of those nights:

Calleigh stood in the layout lab looking over some pictures from their case this morning. It was interesting too, because they didn't have to look far for a gun or any evidence it was all right in front of their faces. The gun that was used, a 45, was placed right next to their victim. There were no finger prints on it though so that put a damper on things but they were a great team and Calleigh had no doubt in her mind that they would all sooner or later catch who they were looking for. They gathered a lot of prints so she was hoping they would point them in the right direction.

Calleigh sighed and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand as she scooped up the pictures in the other. She was doing ok today, better than she expected and she liked to think a lot of that had to do with Eric. He was so sweet and gentle like he always was with her and the fact that he just listened to her last night and let her tell him a little how she felt about him without pressuring her into more, made it all the better. She looked up seeing someone walk into the room, Natalia stood there with a smile looking at the pictures Calleigh had scattered on the table.

"Hey – those the pictures from the scene this morning?" Natalia asked her while picking one of them up. Calleigh just nodded her head without saying anything. Natalia frowned for a moment and looked Calleigh in the eyes. "Y – You ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Calleigh said with her sweet southern accent. She gave Natalia a sweet somewhat uncomfortable smile. Natalia got the hint and didn't say anything more.

"So, I was thinking about maybe going out tonight. There's this new club that opened up in Coral Gables, you maybe wanna check it out?" Natalia asked her as Ryan and Eric walked into the room. Calleigh's eyes shot over to Eric as she blushed and smiled at him. Both Ryan and Natalia picked up on it and wondered what that was all about, but neither said anything.

"What's this I hear about going out?" Ryan asked being nosy as usual.

"I was telling Calleigh that there is this new club that just opened up, its got a huge bar and salsa dancing, its called, Alcazaba. Thought maybe it would be nice if we all went out? Had a few drinks – maybe had some fun?" Natalia pressed on.

Ryan nodded his head crossing his arms over his chest looking at everyone. Eric moved a little closer to Calleigh and leaned against the table next to her. "I think that would be cool. What about you two?" Ryan asked.

Eric looked at Calleigh with a soft grin, it was his irresistible look, although Eric had many of those, this was among Calleigh's favorites. She tucked some hair behind her ear and looked down at the layout table again not saying anything. "Yeah we're in," Eric stated picking up on Calleigh's answer without her even having to say anything.

"Great! How about we meet there about nine?" Natalia asked looking around at the other three CSI's. They all nodded in agreement as Natalia and Ryan walked out together they left Calleigh and Eric alone in the room. Eric leaned up from the table and looked down at Calleigh just watching her slow careful movements. This was another one of those moments where they were dancing around their flirting, only to the both of them it meant more now. They had more insight on what each other felt for one another, so the tension was a little greater. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"You do want to go tonight, right?" Eric asked a little hesitantly now looking at her not really knowing if that was what she wanted. He wasn't her boyfriend or anything so who was he to make dissensions about what _they_ wanted to do?

Calleigh just smiled and looked up at him; her eyes sparkled with love when she looked at him. "Yes. I – I want to go. Maybe having that kind of fun is what _we_ need?" she said emphasizing the word _we_ because she had done nothing but spent time with Eric the past two weeks none stop and now she couldn't imagine herself doing anything without him. Eric caught onto that and smiled letting his cheeks flush a light red color. "One thing though -," her accent heavy that time, "What do I wear to a club like that? I mean salsa dancing?" she chuckled lightly not sure why she asked him that, he was guy, but then again Eric knew these things better than she did.

"It's a Hispanic club, Cal. You can't do the salsa or dance in pants really, I mean for a woman I assume its uncomfortable," Eric said with a shrug and grin. "You do plan to dance with me right?" he said with the same grin only making it wider this time.

Calleigh cocked her brow and looked around the room then back up at him sucking in her bottom lip. "We'll see," she teased gathering up the rest of the photos. Eric knew that he could charm the panties right off of Calleigh if he wanted too and he was sure that he had more than a few times but she was good at not showing emotions at certain times. It was their work place so Eric didn't press any further.

/X/X/

The day seemed to go by so slow, but once the time came to leave Eric drove Calleigh back to her place to give her time to get ready for tonight. He said he would be back around 8:30 to pick her up, which gave Calleigh more than enough time to pick out something suitable for tonight's events. She was a little nervous, this wasn't an official date seeing how they were going out with two of their friends, but still going out and actually having fun it was going to be a slight challenge for her seeing how she had been feeling the past couple of days.

But Calleigh hated to be asked the same question over and over again, _are you ok?_ So even though she wasn't completely ok she had to make it look like she was just so no one would ask her that tonight.

After her shower Calleigh wrapped the towel around her slender body and blow dried her hair. But instead of letting it hang straight like it always was, she let it fall with loose curls. She put on what little make up she did wear and headed for her bedroom to find something to wear.

Eric was nervous and excited about tonight. He knew that Calleigh was going to look breathtaking just as she always was. He hoped that he looked alright, he checked his face in his rearview mirror, skin smooth and tan and his smile never faded. His dark blue jeans fit perfectly around his waist and his white button up shirt was thin enough to see through. It was a hot night out so he didn't wear his usual undershirt, so his chest was noticeable in the right light. He cleared his throat before knocking on her door and when she answered they wore the same look on their faces. She was simply stunning. The light curls in her hair, the red strapless dress she wore fit every curve of her body perfectly, her cleavage was more than Eric thought he could take, but once his eyes caught onto her long slender legs he felt the urge to just push her against the door and kiss her passionately.

But he restrained.

"Muy bonita." Eric managed to say to her still stunned by her beauty.

Calleigh bit her bottom lip looking him up and down. She could see every curve of his chest through his shirt. The way he didn't button up the top three buttons almost made her melt. When he told her she looked very beautiful she blushed, "Gracias," she said with a smirk. "I have to say, you look – you look -," Calleigh couldn't find the words. There were no words to describe Eric Delko. In Calleigh's eyes he was all around perfect.

He chuckled and held out his hand as she took it. Calleigh didn't have to say anything to him about the way he looked; he could tell by the look on her face when she opened the door that he looked good enough to be with her tonight. That was all that mattered to him.

/X/X/

Once they got to the club Calleigh dialed Natalia's number to see where she and Ryan were. They eventually found them up in the corner of the club. The place was fantastically huge; the music was orgasmic through their ears. They all sat at one of those round booths that could hold up to ten people. Ryan and Eric went down to the bar to get both ladies drinks. Calleigh and Natalia made small talk and Natalia made sure to complement on how good Calleigh looked tonight. Which made Calleigh feel good to know that she didn't look like she was out of order again.

Once the guys came back Eric couldn't keep his eyes off of Calleigh, Ryan got a few glances in too. Eric slid in next to her as Ryan did with Natalia. Eric casually brought his hand back around Calleigh resting it against the back of the booth. She could feel his eyes on her as she bit the side of her lip taking a sip of her drink.

"So I hear H is getting out in a few days?" Natalia said breaking the verbal silents around them. The music was blaring; they all had to shout just to hear one another.

"Yeah, I talked to him this morning. He said he's feeling a little bit better. I think it also has to deal with Kyle going up to see him, made Horatio happy to see that his son was ok," Ryan stated taking a sip of his drink as he shot a glance at Calleigh again. She swallowed hard playing with the straw in her drink. She closed her eyes for a moment thinking back to that day in Rio. She shook her head like she was trying to shake the thoughts from her mind.

Eric saw her and lowered his head down moving some of her hair out of the way before he let his hot breath brush against her ear before speaking, "You alright, Querida?"

Calleigh shivered feeling him that close to her as she nodded her head with a gentle smile. Ryan and Natalia watched the two of them, they knew that Eric and Calleigh were best friends but they never really saw them this close before. Then again they were always around each other at work, so maybe they were friendlier outside of work?

Eric was working the nerve up to ask Calleigh to dance with him, sure he joked about it earlier, still he was shy about it. After a few drinks they all loosened up and laughed. Eric let his hand softly rub up and down Calleigh's back feeling her soft skin that the dress didn't touch she smiled and leaned into his touch. The song changed, causing Eric to bob his head a little with the beat. It was a salsa song, and he knew this was his moment. Eric nodded to Ryan; it was one of those nods for him to ask Natalia to dance so they all could be out on the floor.

Ryan chuckled and asked Natalia to dance, she must have said yes because she was smiling and scooting out of the booth with him. "Cal you wanna – you wanna dance?"

Calleigh smiled big and slid out of the booth with him. Eric took her hand in his, lacing his fingers with her own. It just felt natural to do that. He was feeling bolder than usual. Once they hit the dance floor he was surprised that Calleigh got in the right stance to do the salsa. He didn't take her for someone who knew that dance. He raised his brow looking down at her beautiful face as the multi –colored lights hit it.

The way she moved her hips with his was outstanding, she had every move down to a 'T', he was shocked that Calleigh never mentioned that she knew these dances before. Calleigh smiled up at him; once the song changed she moved her hands up his chest lightly and wrapped them around his neck. Eric just shook his head with a chuckle seeing that pleasing look on her face. "Didn't think I knew the salsa did you?"

Eric just shook his head moving his hands down along her sides feeling her every luscious curves until he rested them on her hips as they swayed back and forth with his. Calleigh let out a faint moan with the way his hands were driving along her body, it drove her completely insane. She pressed closer against Eric's body without caution and let herself fall into the depths of his eyes as she looked up at him. It was like she was deaf, the music was no longer playing and there were no people around, all she saw was him.

"Eric? W –What did you say to me that night? I mean before you left my condo you whispered something in Russian, w –what was it?" Calleigh asked him curiously. She watched his face change; he looked confused yet embarrassed somehow? "Eric?"

"Ya tebyA lyublyU," he repeated to her in a whisper with slight hesitation. He looked at her like he expected her to know what he was saying. "Cal, It means -," Eric started to say as he leaned down a little more his face mere inches from hers.

Then it happened, _Bang, Bang, Bang._

Three gun shots overpowered the loud music. There was a sudden silents then screaming could be heard all around. Eric gripped onto Calleigh tightly getting down to the ground. They were off duty CSI's so they didn't have their guns with them. After a few minutes they heard Ryan yell out to them. Eric helped Calleigh up off the ground as they rushed to where they were. Ryan and Natalia were standing next to two bodies; a young couple both had bullets in their chest.

"This is CSI Delko we've just had a shooting at Club Alcazaba, two people have been shot, I repeat two people have been shot, send an ambulance right away!" Eric flipped his phone shut as he kneeled down next to Calleigh who was checking their pulses. She looked up at the three CSI's shaking her head. They were gone.

/X/X/

Calleigh sighed wrapping her arms around herself as she stood outside watching the night shift M.E. wheel the two bodies away. They had spent three hours helping out inside the club interviewing people and looking for evidence. Calleigh wasn't tired but she was ready to go, not just because of what happened but because it was hot out. Her somewhat curly hair had gone pin straight now because of the humidity.

She looked ahead to see Ryan and Eric walking straight for her. Natalia was still talking to some of the other CSI's about what happened. She and Ryan appeared to be closer then she and Eric were. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked up at both men. "Well this was a fun evening," she said a little sarcastically but in a joking way. Really Calleigh had a great time up until the part of the shooting.

Ryan chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair, "Yeah we should do it again real soon," Ryan said with a smirk. Natalia was waving for Ryan as he nodded over to her, "Eh, Boa Vista needs me. See you two tomorrow. Be safe, alright," Ryan said to them heading off to Natalia.

"Yeah you too, man," Eric called out to him as he turned to put all his focus back on Calleigh. She smiled up at him as he guided her over to the passenger's side and helped her in. "You tired, Cal?" Eric asked her once he got in and started the SUV up driving off.

"No, not really. I'm still wide awake, how about you?" she asked him softly.

"I'm pretty wired, myself," he said with a light chuckle. He looked ahead and turned down the road that was a few blocks from his place. Calleigh smirked wondering what he was doing. "Since my place is right along the south end of the beach you wanna – maybe continue our walk from the other day?" he said to her with a smile of charm.

Calleigh just smiled looking ahead as he pulled into his driveway. "I'd like that," she finally whispered to him. The beach. She remembered that day all to well and not just because it was the day that Horatio was shot but that was the day/night her and Eric became just a little bit closer. She got out of his SUV and walked up to his house stepping inside with him as he walked right for his back patio door after flipping on the living room lights. She smiled and walked over to his couch slipping off her heals as he, too, slipped off his shoes. She watched him walk down the hall as she stood up and slipped out his back patio door.

Calleigh moved down the steps and stood at the bottom waiting for him. It was a little cooler at night down by the ocean; the wind blew lightly but just enough to give her a chill. She looked up seeing Eric holding a blanket with a grin on his face as he casually slipped his arm around her waist walking down the beach line with her. Once they got a little ways from his place he placed the blanket down in the sand and walked with her over to the edge of the water.

The way the waves were crashing it was like perfect music, only a few crickets could be heard and the moon… the moon was just beautiful. The night was romantic and perfect. Calleigh moved a little more towards the water feeling Eric behind her. He was close enough that she felt his body heat radiate onto hers which caused her to shiver. She felt his large warm hands run up and down along her smooth arms to warm her. Calleigh shivered once more but this time it was because of his touch. "Cold?" Eric whispered into her ear letting his fingers drag down along her arms to meet her fingers as he linked them together and brought his hands around her petite waist.

Calleigh cooed softly feeling his body pressed up against hers from behind. She cuddled her back into his chest and just nodded with a light moan. She opened her mouth to say something about what happened at the club tonight, but she didn't want to ruin the moment by bringing up the shooting. She instead leaned her head back against his chest and looked out at the water. It was so peaceful being with Eric. Eric almost couldn't believe that she was letting him get this close to her, but then again he could believe it. "You never finished telling me what those words meant?" Calleigh finally whispered squeezing his hands and guiding him to hold her closer against his body.

She could hear him sigh; she hoped it was nothing bad? She looked over her shoulder and felt his lips brush along the side of her face and ear. "You –you sure you want to know that, Cal?" Eric whispered back to her almost in a seductive tone. She nodded her head very lightly and swallowed hard. "Ya tebyA lyublyU, is Russian for… for…" Eric hesitated for a moment. This was it, now or never. "I – I love you," he finally said. He froze there not moving. He was afraid she was going to freak out on him now that he finally said it to her. Eric kept his body in the same position it was, his lips brushing along her ear, only his breathing increased massively.

Calleigh could feel his heart pumping against her back. Her chest was doing the same thing; her heart rate was out of control. She wanted to say it back to him because she did love him, but her lips wouldn't move. She stayed in his grasp and just turned her body to face him. Her chest pressed hard into his as the small puddles in her eyes shown against the moonlight. Eric had a look of panic on his face. Was that the wrong thing to say? But when he saw her smile he knew it was ok. Calleigh opened her mouth but Eric quickly moved his finger over her lips shaking his head lightly.

"No – I'm not asking for you to say it back, Calleigh. I – I just want you to know that, I'm – I'm in love with you," Eric whispered out to her seriously and lovingly and before she could even say anything. Before she could even tell him to shut up because she was in love with him too it happened.

His lips crushed against hers. If it wasn't the Fourth of July why were there fireworks going off? Ok maybe they weren't real but Calleigh knew she heard them. Eric could have sworn he did too, or maybe it was just the bullet in his brain playing tricks on him again? Whatever it was, it was magic. His tongue traced the outline of her perfect lips before slipping it between her teeth to match his tongue with her own. The gentle caress was so soothing it was everything Calleigh imagined it to be when she kissed Eric. The world was no longer around them; it was like they were the only two people that existed.

After a few minutes they pulled away unwillingly to catch their breath. Eric leaned down a little to rest his forehead against hers. They had matching smiles. "Our secret?" Eric whispered to her against her lips. She nodded her head against his and stretched up on her tippy toes to capture his lips once more for a tender much needed passionate kiss.

This had to be their secret for now. Calleigh didn't want to be forced to the night shift or Eric for that matter.

Chapter: 10 Is COMING SOON!! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter too?

The reviews are SO awesome!! I love you guys.  TexasJen, I wrote this from inspiration from your words. Thank you!!


	10. The Real Date Ch10

Chapter: 10

The real date:

Calleigh stood by her locker fumbling to get it open. Her mind was so clouded with thoughts of Eric that she didn't even realize all she had to do was lift the little bar and it would open. She chuckled and flung it open placing her bag inside. Last night was incredible. Eric told her he loved her. _He was in love with her. _Each and every time she thought about it her heart raced even faster than before. She only wished that she said it back to him, not that she didn't want to it was just… it was Eric. He made her so tongue tied; it was hard to express how she felt. But Calleigh was itching to tell him she loved him. She was never really good at expressing her feelings to the fullest; maybe this would give her that chance. She also knew that blurting the words out at any moment wasn't special and she wanted it to be a special moment like last night before she tells him.

Eric was surprised with himself, he confessed his love to Calleigh and they kissed and held one another but nothing really intimate happened between them. Usually that was the first thing he went for. But this wasn't just some girl. It was Calleigh. So maybe he wasn't so surprised with himself, because he loved her and respected her. The wait would be the best thing; he knew when the moment was right she would tell him how she felt about him. Maybe that's what she was trying to do last night before he stopped her? He wasn't sure, he just didn't want to hear the speech that she cared about him and he was her best friend but she wasn't sure about _them_. But she didn't pull back from the kiss if anything she was the one that latched her lips onto his for the rest of the night.

Not only that, Calleigh didn't say anything to him all night about him telling her he loved her. So maybe she did love him and just didn't know how to say it. _Yeah, that's what it is. I know Cal, she just doesn't know how to tell me!_ Eric convinced himself. He walked into the locker room to hear someone humming, more like lightly singing to themselves. He knew that beautiful voice anywhere. It was Calleigh. Eric quietly opened his locker and put his things in it before closing it again. He stood there listening to her voice get a little higher. She must have thought she was alone in there because he knew Calleigh, she didn't sing in front of people.

Eric slowly and quietly walked around the locker row (hers was on the opposite side of his) to see that her back was to him. She was bent over putting things into her other bag to put back into her locker. Eric's eyebrow furrowed as she leaned up. He couldn't help but admire her backside. Calleigh was a vision of perfection, in every way. When she turned around her head was down but her voice caught in her throat when she saw someone standing there she jumped and dropped her things. She put her hand over her chest and swallowed hard with a light smile seeing that it was Eric. He chuckled and bent down to gathered her things up for her as he placed them inside her locker for her seeing her hand still on her chest.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he whispered to her placing his hand over top of hers prying it away from her chest to place it on his warm cheek. Her hand was unusually cold. "It's just me, baby," he whispered once more with a grin.

Calleigh smiled and stepped a little closer to him. She knew that they couldn't be all touchy feely at work, but no one was around so she was going to take advantage of that. "I –It's ok. H –How long were you standing there?" she asked running her thumb along his cheek.

His tongue darted out and licked his bottom lip softly watching her eyes follow his tongue. He smiled and brought his other hand up to trace her jaw line, "Long enough to know that you have a beautiful voice," he whispered to her before leaning down to brush his lips along hers for a soft yet quick lingering kiss. When he pulled back he saw the blush that rose on her cheeks as well as the look on her face. He pulled back more with a soft pout, "I know, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself!" he said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes playfully and smiled, "I'm not complaining. But you know the rules Eric Delko, we cant risk it," she said to him before looking over her shoulder and then around his. He searched with her to see what she was looking for. She leaned up on her tippy toes just as quickly and pressed a long hard kiss to his lips. She pulled away clearing her throat straightening out her jacket seeing the look on his face and his lips red and slightly swollen she giggled lightly. "Sorry I couldn't help myself!" she mocked seriously.

/X/X/

The day seemed to drag on, like it would never end. Calleigh wanted to know what happened with the shooting from last night. She knew that she and the others weren't aloud to work on the case, but it still intrigued her. She made a mental note to ask someone later about what was going on in the case. She walked down the hall in the direction of the locker rooms. She was mere inches from the door when she heard someone say her name from behind. She stopped and didn't turn around instead she cringed and sighed.

"Rick," she said softly rolling her eyes before turning around to face him with a fake smile. She could see the look on his face and knew that he had something up his sleeve. She crossed her arms over her chest and titled her head to the side waiting for him to speak.

"We need to talk, Miss. Duquesne. Would you follow me please?" he said without waiting for her answer he started to walk. Calleigh rolled her eyes again and followed behind him. She could see the other people in the building watching her follow behind making small talk about what he wanted to speak to her about.

_Oh god! Someone saw me and Eric this morning. _Her breath caught in her throat at that moment as she entered the room with him. She looked out at the glass around them and saw everyone staring. Her eyes caught onto another pair of eyes. Those dark chocolate eyes Calleigh loved so much. Eric had his eyebrows furrowed together looking at her from a distance. He motioned his hand to ask her more or less what was going on. She gave a quick shrug before sitting down. "Can we make his fast? I have evidence to process," Calleigh said quickly.

"I understand you were out last night with Mr. Delko?" Stetler started as he crossed his hands in front of him and laid them on the table.

Calleigh furrowed her brow, "Yes I was. Along with Natalia and Ryan," she said to him quickly. "Is that a crime to go out after work with your friends?" she asked coldly.

Stetler chuckled and looked to his right at the people that were working and the people who were being nosy and looking through the glass at them. "No not a crime but it could get you all into trouble," he said looking at her with a grin. Stetler loved to piss all the CSI's off as much as possible. "Was that a double date you were all on? Are you seeing Mr. Delko? Miss. Boa Vista and Mr. Wolfe -," he motioned his hands between them.

Calleigh sighed and shook her head with a light laugh, "No. We all just decided it would be nice to go out. As friends," she said chuckling. She slid the chair out and stood up, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do," she said boldly before walking out of the room leaving Stetler there looking like he just got slapped in the face. Calleigh had to restrain herself from laughing when she walked out at the look he was sporting.

/X/X/

"Hey, what did Stetler want?" Eric asked Calleigh as he walked into the layout lab seeing her going through some files. She looked up and smirked at him. She didn't say anything to him at first, she just stared at him. Eric couldn't help but let the worry look fade seeing that smirk she was giving him. He smiled at her and leaned against the table as he brought his hand up and brushed a strand of her hair from her face.

"You know Stetler always trying to poke his nose in other people's business," they both chuckled. "It was nothing. Just asking about last night, he's always suspicious about all of us here in the lab," she said softly chuckling once more. It was true though, if Stetler had any reason to suspect that something was going on between any of them he would say so. Calleigh hated that. But she and Eric were doing a good job so far hiding that they were a couple.

Eric waved his hand in front of her face seeing her off in a daze. Calleigh blinked a few times and looked at him with a grin on her face. "So what do you have planned for tonight, Miss. Duquesne?" Eric asked her casually.

Calleigh pretended to be in deep thought before giving him another grin, "I guess that would depend on what my tall, dark and gorgeous boyfriend has planned. Why? You wanna ask me out?" her thick southern accent sounded.

Eric bit his bottom lip through a smile. Calleigh could see the red rise on his cheeks which made her blush as well. "Well I was thinking about it, a nice romantic dinner maybe a little dancing? But since your involved I wouldn't want to ruin it. He seems like a pretty good guy -," Eric smirked and brushed his fingers along her cheek.

Her cheek burned for a moment after he pulled his hand away. She wished they weren't surrounded by glass now; he was driving her completely crazy. She stood up from her chair and pulled all her files in order and together before facing him completely. "Hmm, actually he's the best. I couldn't see my life without him," she unknowingly confessed. Once she saw the look on his face when she said that she could tell that he was fighting back the urge to just take her and kiss her senseless. He smiled and backed away from her a little unwillingly, he didn't want to but he was finding it hard to restrain himself around her. "But I don't think he'll mind if we have dinner, he's very understanding," she said smirking.

Eric looked above her head at the glass behind her and then looked behind him and all around. Thank god the layout lab wasn't near any other major labs or hallways. "Good then, it's a date." Eric looked around once more and took one step towards her before leaning down, "I couldn't see my life without you either," his voice was soft and tender, almost seductive which made Calleigh quiver. Eric leaned closer and quickly kissed her lips before pulling away from her. His famous smirk played across his lips before he backed out of the room leaving her stand there completely breathless.

/X/X/

Eric opened his locker with a long sigh. It was finally time to go home, night shift was already there. He put his things into his bag and closed his locker door while swinging his bag over his shoulder he walked to the other side to see that Calleigh had already gotten her things and headed out. He smiled to himself and walked down the hall and out the doors of the locker room. On his way outside he ran into Ryan, "Hey -," Ryan called out to him as he walked next to him. "You get grilled today by Stetler?" Ryan asked him with a chuckle as they got to Eric's SUV.

Eric slightly laughed opening the door to throw his bag in. "Nah, but Calleigh did. I saw her in his office today, so I did my best to avoid him," he chuckled leaning against the inside of his open driver door.

Ryan tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms over his chest, "You know he – he asked me about you and Calleigh."

"Yeah, what about me and Calleigh?" Eric said trying to disguise his grin.

"Well are you and Calleigh –," Ryan motioned his hands between them; "The only reason I ask is because lately you two seem to be pretty _comfortable_ with one another, more than usual," Ryan said with a smile trying to read Delko's face.

Eric didn't say anything to him; this was between him and Calleigh. Eric shook his head as he got into his SUV. He leaned out his window with a smirk, "Cal and I – we –she's my best friend. If people want to think otherwise then there is nothing I can do about it," he simply stated. He started up his SUV and saw the grin on Ryan's face.

Ryan just chuckled and slapped his hand a few times on the hood of the truck, "I'll see you later man," he said with a grin. Ryan was no dummy he knew what was going on but he wouldn't say anything. It was none of his business.

Once Eric got home he went right for the shower. He never gave Calleigh a specific time he would be there so he would have to call her once he was on his way. Eric let the hot water rush down along his muscles, he was tense, not stressed, but his body ached a little. Ok maybe it was stress? But a good stress if that could be good. He was excited about his new found relationship with Calleigh, the fact that she finally gave in and decided what she really wanted, made Eric happy. He had never felt this way about anyone before, Calleigh was the only woman he could see himself with for the rest of his life.

She meant everything to him.

Eric reached down and shut the water off and with one quick swipe of his towel he wrapped it around his waist making his way to his bedroom. He threw on his boxers and grabbed his dark blue jeans and slipped them on. His upper body still glistened with the water that caught along the creases of his washboard abs. He glanced over at his clock; he couldn't believe that it was this late already. The sun would be down within the hour. He walked over to his closet and pulled out one of his black button up shirts and slipped it on. He hadn't gotten the chance to button it yet when his phone went off, "Delko," he answered.

"Eric? Hey, It's Calleigh -," she said with a grin on her face. She could hear him sigh and knew he was probably smiling at that moment. "I have to run back up to the lab for something but if you want me to I can just meet you at your place when I'm done? I'm on my way there now."

"Sure, is everything alright?" he asked with concern.

She smiled pulling into the parking lot of the lab, "Yeah, everything is fine. I'll see you in say about twenty minutes?" she said softly walking up the walk way.

"I'll be waiting." Eric replied flipping his phone shut. He could relax now and not rush with what he was doing, although Eric was already ready. It didn't take him long to get dressed. He walked over to his dresser and splashed a little of his cologne on and checked himself in the mirror. He wanted to look good for his girl. He checked his watch and he had just enough time to run out and get her some flowers. He grabbed his wallet slipping it into his back pocket as well as buttoning up his shirt leaving the top three undone before he headed out the door to his SUV.

There was a nice little flower shop not even a few blocks from his place so Eric stopped in and chatted with the old couple who owned it. They happened to be friends of his parents, a little old Cuban couple. He thanked them and headed back to his place. Not even five minutes after he closed his door he heard a knock. His stomach flipped in circles. He opened the door with his flowers in hand to see the most stunning woman standing at his door step.

She had a dress on that reminded him of her dress from last night only it was white with thin straps. His jaw fell open a little as she stepped in placing her hand over top of his where he was holding the flowers. "You look – absolutely beautiful Calleigh," he said to her softly seeing her lean over to smell the pretty pink roses. She smiled up at him with a soft blush looking him up and down. Yummy. That was the only word to describe him right now.

"Thank you. I have to say you look -," she stepped a little closer to him as he moved his hands around her petite waist she ran her tiny hands up along his chest over the fabric of his shirt. She leaned up on her tippy toes and brushed her lips past his, "Absolutely delicious," she said almost in a purr. Eric closed the lip gap and nipped at her bottom lip before kissing her with full on needed passion. The kiss lasted longer than her breath could handle, but she held out until he pulled away.

He smiled at her and brought his hand around handing her the flowers, b"Shall we?" he said leading her out the door for an evening of enchantment and bliss.

/X/X/

"Wow this place is nice," Calleigh said as the hostess seated them at their reserved table. Eric took her back to the romantic bistro they were supposed to have dinner at a few weeks ago but couldn't do to Horatio being shot. Calleigh looked across the table at Eric and smiled at him sweetly as he reached over the table and interlaced his fingers with hers. She listened as he ordered a bottle of wine for the both of them. Calleigh didn't drink much she never really did. It was due to the history with her father, she hated to see what it did to him so her alcohol tolerance was very low, she knew Eric knew that too.

After a few minutes of deciding the waitress came back to get their orders, Calleigh got the chicken parmesan with red sauce while Eric got the linguini with white clam sauce. Eric tilted his head to the side to look at her, her golden blonde locks where so shiny in the dim light; her eyes twinkled every time she would look up at him. Everything about Calleigh Duquesne was perfect in his eyes. When she looked up again she could see that he was looking at her. She could tell that he was in admiration so she said nothing to him; she just let her pearly whites show while the sides of her lips tugged into a smile.

She was lost in her thoughts looking at him; she caught herself with her mouth open and quickly closed it. _How long have I been looking at him like that?_ She thought to herself feeling a little embarrassed. She couldn't help it though the light hit every inch of his face perfect, she wanted to reach out and touch him, touch his skin and feel it against her own. Eric chuckled and winked at her seeing the look on her face he knew that she must have felt silly for the way she was looking at him. Eric didn't mind it though, he was flattered. He leaned into the table squeezing her hand, his soft full lips parted to speak but only a breath could be heard because the waitress came with their food.

Eric unwillingly let go of her hand and sat back letting the food waif into his nose. His eyes shifted up to look at Calleigh who was smiling, "Smells great!" she said taking her fork pushing some of her food around. Their plates were full, Calleigh didn't eat a whole lot anyhow but the smell was making her even hungrier. She dug in taking small bites. She could feel Eric's eyes on her watching her. He smiled seeing that she ate like a bird, of course he had noticed that many times before but it still got to him every time. "How's yours taste?" she asked taking another small bite of her food.

"Here -," he said with a small grin putting some of his food on his fork. "Tell me what you think." He moved the fork to her lips as he leaned a little more over the table, the way she lightly let her lips drop open drove him crazy, just the soft suck of her lips against his fork taking the food into her mouth was slightly arousing to Eric. He wouldn't admit it though. He chuckled at his own thought and leaned back watching her chew; the soft moan let him know that she thought it was good.

After two glasses of wine Calleigh knew that was enough for her, she wasn't drunk or buzzed, but she knew if she had another drink she would be on the verge of tipsy and that was the last thing she wanted tonight. The dinner was lovely… simply perfect just the way Eric had planned it. He waved over to the waitress to let her know that he was ready for the check. "So Cal, you maybe wanna go dancing?"

She smiled tucking some of her hair behind her ear, "I'd like that," she whispered watching him slide out of his chair to walk over to her to help her out of her own. He placed a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth letting his lips burn as he pulled back. Her skin tasted so sweet, it made him want to kiss her even further but he waited until they were outside to do that.

/X/X/

As Eric drove he took her hand in his own caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. He could see the redness around her lips from the aggressive yet passionate kiss session they just had on the side of his SUV before leaving the restaurant. Eric was wearing the same smile she was as he pulled into his drive way.

"I thought we were going dancing?" Calleigh asked taking off her seat belt after she gathered her roses up and slid out of the car to meet him in the front of the vehicle. He laced his fingers with hers once more with a grin.

"We are, once I open this door it will become Club Delko," he chuckled and smirked at her as they walked up his driveway. "Of course it's only reserved for two at all times," he mentioned with a smirk as he opened the door letting her walk ahead of him. He walked over to turn the lamp on that was in the corner of his living room. It made the room dim just like at the restaurant, just enough light for an intimate setting. Calleigh played with the pink petals of her roses and set them on the counter watching him lean over to put on some soft music.

Calleigh ran her fingers through her hair feeling the murderous butterflies rise in her tummy again. She lightly giggled to herself and walked over to stand in the middle of his living room. The sound of a soft Spanish guitar sounded in the room. It was all over, she noticed he had surround sound and had speakers in every corner of his living room. Once he turned around he was stunned again by her beauty. With a sly grin he swept his way over to her and tightly wrapped his arms around her petite waist. He looked down into her dazzling emerald eyes and softly kissed her lips feeling her hands snake around his neck to pull him down more into her body.

His tongue softly delved deep inside of her mouth seeking out her warmness he moaned moving his hands up along her back and pulled her closer as his body swayed lightly with hers. The beat of the music changed but was still at a nice light tempo as Calleigh pulled her lips away from his to catch her breath. The moment was so perfect in every way, Calleigh was happy and content in his arms. Eric rested his forehead down against hers as he moved his hips like most Latin men do when they dance but moved them along with hers so their pace was in a slow circle.

They stayed like that for a good while, the music continued to play as well as their lips against one another's. Eric was wide awake not wanting the night to end at all; he wanted to keep Calleigh in his arms forever. He slid his hand up along her back touching the skin that was exposed from the dress not touching, it made Calleigh shiver. He moved in like he was going to kiss her lips but instead he kissed the side of her mouth like he had done in the restaurant and made his way down along her jaw line. Her skin was so succulent, so addicting, he wanted to taste _all _of her. Calleigh breathed out a moan moving her fingers to rake through his none existent hair. She felt the softness of his stubbly hair against her finger tips as his lips trailed soft warm kisses along her neck.

He softly let his tongue drag along her shoulder before sucking on it causing a little mark to appear on her milky flesh. But the mark he left on her neck after moving her hair to the side was a little bigger. Eric sucked just below her ear as his hands traveled along the luscious curves of her body. Calleigh couldn't take it anymore, she wanted him… she needed him. From the way Eric touched her and kissed her she knew it was something he needed too.

With one smooth motion Calleigh turned her head a little as she ran her tongue along the shell of his ear before softly nipping at the lobe, she felt his sucking stop as he gasped out what sounded like her name. "Make love to me, Eric," she whispered in raw seduction.

That was all it took for him, Eric had been driven over the mental bridge for sure now with the tone of her voice and her words. _She wants me to make love to her! _Eric thought to himself as he lifted her up into his arms guiding her slender legs around his waist. Without caution he crushed his lips to hers once more running his hands down along her back and to her bottom to feel nothing but bare skin. That made him even more aroused to think that either she didn't have panties on or she was wearing a thong? He knew within a matter of moments he would soon find out.

The anticipation to feel what it would be like to be inside of her for the first time grew more and more as Eric started to stumble his way down the hall to his bedroom with her against his body. He could feel his cock rub against the confines of his pants just begging to penetrate inside of her. Calleigh too could feel the bulge between her thighs as Eric hiked her dress up a little to get a better feel of her skin. Calleigh moaned as she felt her body lower with his onto his bed. The cold soft silk touched her skin causing her to moan while Eric pressed softly kisses along her jaw line. Neither of them were about to rush this moment, it was going at the right pace.

Calleigh moved her fingers along his shirt to undo his buttons but instead Eric pulled back and lifted the shirt over his head and tossed it away to reveal his chiseled chest and washboard abs. Calleigh sighed in excitement and bit her lower lip feeling Eric's hands on both her outer thighs. He ran his hands up along her hips and sides to remove her dress from her body completely to reveal her delicious curvaceous body. He could see her cleavage peak above the white lace of her bra which caused a low guttural growl to emit from his lips. Calleigh smirked and threw her head back as Eric traced his lips down along the nape of her neck to her collarbone and down the valley of her breasts.

Eric moved his mouth over the fabric of her bra and bit down softly where the nipple would be placed before moving his hand behind her to unsnap it. In one quick motion he removed it from her chest to reveal her perfectly supple breast. Calleigh's body quivered beneath his as his lips latched onto her left nipple. His tongue flicked over the pink bud before sucking it between his teeth. His hand kneaded her right breast carefully and softly before dragging his tongue between her breasts to lightly suck on her creamy skin.

Calleigh shuddered with each smooth motion of his body, his erection pressed against her hot center before he moved his lips all the way down along her smooth stomach. His lips stopped at the brim of her thong, his eyes shot up to look at the pleasure on her face. The room was filled with the faint sounds of the music from the living room at their moans mixed together. It was the perfect kind of music. He could smell her sweet arousal as he gently tore away her thong to reveal her perfectly shaved core. He slowly spread her legs a little more apart letting his lips and tongue softly trail wet kisses along her inner thighs. His fingers lightly trailed along her hips before making their way between her thighs. The soft brush of his fingers along her wet folds made Calleigh jerk her body a little. _"Eric-" _she breathed out as she threw her head back more against the pillow.

The reaction just from one light touch sent Eric into ecstasy overdrive, he wanted to take things slow but he had waited so long for this moment with the woman he loved that waiting any longer seemed foolish. He brought his lips along her wetness, his tongue softly traced the outline of her entrance, the sweet taste of her juices caused Eric to shudder and moan. Her skin tasted just like this, but it was something about her arousal that was sweeter. Be moved his fingers to softly rub against her throbbing clit, that seemed to get her a little more because she clutched the sheets beneath her into her fists while arching her back into the air.

Eric watched with a smirk before dipping a few fingers inside of her. Her inner folds gripped him hard with each slow motion of his fingers, his tongue softly flicked around her clit before his lips closed in around it to suck on it completely. "I – I –Oh Eric!" Calleigh moaned out as she thrashed her head from side to side to fight off her first wave of orgasm. Eric didn't stop though he couldn't stop, her taste was bittersweet… almost forbidden. But he also wanted to feel that pleasure with her so he unwillingly moved his lips away and softly kissed up along her stomach once again as he also removed his fingers letting both his hands rest on her hips.

Once he was face to face with her again he looked at her with a smile seeing her slowly start to open her eyes to look at him. "I love you, Eric," Calleigh finally admitted. Eric's heart pounded so hard in his chest at that moment he forgot to breath. He gasped out for air and smiled at her before he crushed his lips to hers without a word. She smiled into the kiss and moved her hands down along his back softly letting her nails scrape down his tan smooth skin. Eric could feel her hands come between them as she unbuckled his belt and slid it through the loops sending it flying across the room. Eric chuckled lightly letting his lips travel along her jaw line once more. "I want to feel you inside me," Calleigh moaned out breathlessly.

That was all it took, her to say she loved him and she needed to feel him inside of her. He couldn't take it anymore. He moved her hands away from his pants as he unzipped them himself and with her help he pushed his pants and boxers down at the same time wiggling them off completely. His erection whipped up to his navel and brushed along her wetness. He moved his head back up to look into her gorgeous emerald eyes and with a soft nod Calleigh invited him inside of her, Eric moved his hand between them and adjusted himself as he slowly pressed the head of his cock against her entrance.

With one slow thrust he entered her; it was like heaven as they both at the same time let out a soft breathless moan. Calleigh moved her legs up more on the bed feeling Eric slowly find his own pace, she was tight or maybe it was because he was well above average that it felt that way? But whatever the reason it felt incredible. He could see the pleasure written all over Calleigh's face once he found a good rhythm with her hips. As his pace started to quicken she tried to match her hips with his every thrust but failed a few times feeling him push her hips back down. Eric made sure to give her the look in question if he was hurting her but she just moaned and nibbled on his bottom lip feeling his hips brush her inner thighs.

"Calleigh -," Eric whispered against her lips as he dipped his tongue into her hot mouth again. He sucked on her bottom lip while moving his hands to her bottom gripping it hard before pulling out of her before thrusting himself hard back inside of her. Calleigh's breath caught in her throat as she groaned in pleasure letting her slick walls contract around his throbbing erection. She could feel her orgasm start to slowly rise in her body; she could have waited it off longer but since his mouth and fingers got her revved up before she was sure to have an intoxicating and everlasting orgasm this time. Eric too could feel himself burning with the desire to just explode inside of her and once he lifted his head to look at her he knew they would share their first orgasm together.

"Oh, You – you feel – S –so, Ohhh God -," was all Calleigh could say… well moan at that moment. It felt so incredible to feel him inside of her like this. She felt complete.

Eric pumped his way harder inside of her as the bed beneath them quaked in protest. The headboard slammed against the wall a few times while Calleigh moved her hands down to grip his bottom. She edged him further inside of her while he buried his face in the nape of her neck letting her know that he was ready for his release. "Oh God, Calleigh -," Eric moaned out against her neck. She let her nails scrape up his back as she gripped his shoulders hard feeling his cock slam into her at an unforgivable pace. Calleigh's walls contracted so hard around him he found it hard to penetrate himself any deeper.

Then it happened.

They came together.

Those fireworks appeared again. The explosion was magical, so warm and enveloping it could make Miami hurricanes look like mini storms. She surrounded him completely with her sweetness feeling every bit of him shoot inside of her. They were breathless, completely and utterly on cloud 9 right now as Eric slowed his pace and slowly lifted his head while tasting her skin again by placing soft kisses along her neck and along her jaw line. "That –w –was incredible," Calleigh whispered breathlessly and seductively into his ear.

Eric sought out her lips again letting his tongue caress with hers before slowing his pace almost to a stop. His hands rode up along her sides and behind her back as he pulled out of her slowly, both bodies shuddering, and rolled over onto his back to have her on top of him. He brought her body down flush against his own, their hearts racing against one another's, his face buried in her hair as he kissed it. Calleigh shivered feeling his hands trace long circles up and down her back. She lifted her head and pulled herself more onto his body as though she couldn't get close enough.

"I love you, Cal," Eric said to her lifting his head to press light and very much needed kisses on her lips.

Calleigh smiled at him moving her hands to cup his face while looking deep into his eyes. "I love you too," her voice sounded soft and serious. "More than you know."

/X/X/

So here is Chapter 10!! Sorry if it's too long, or not long enough. College started again so I didn't have a lot of time to write this. I've been working on it little by little every day. Anyhow, I'm not sure if I'm going to stop it there or not? The rest of my story's I have started to write already are coming off this one. So from here on out Eric and Calleigh are together. So I may just end this story here and build on the others to let you know what is going on with them. Let me know what you think, then I'll decide! Thank you ALL so much for all the great reviews so far!


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